2020 was a heck of a year. Not only a pandemic that's killed millions of people but Colorado set new records we really didn't want to record. Draught and years of beetle kill has produced a lot of dry fuel in northern Colorado and it burned over 200,000 acres last year and got really close to the Sundance Trail Guest Ranch near Red Feather Lakes. So close in fact that they had to get into emergency mode a few times and drastically cut down some of their trees. Thankfully the ranch owners son works for the U.S. Forest Service so he knows exactly how to manage their forest around the ranch.
As with any change it is indeed hard to get through and is a process for most people. But most of the time change is a good thing and I firmly believe that the ranch is still absolutely gorgeous and in fact has created even more opportunities and foundation for growth.
Overall there wasn't too much taken away from the previous disc golf course. But in fact many more opportunities and throws are now available that weren't before the fire. Indeed there is a lot of work to be done in creating new pin placements and maybe even different tees for pros and amateurs. But the forest being thinned out was a good thing in my opinion and I see nothing but growth and opportunity in the cuttings. In fact because of the blizzard we just had they got multiple feet of snow which enables burn days. So we'll be working to get rid of some of the piles of the cut down wood while we can with snow around.
As you can see in the next few pictures the course is still very challenging and does still have a bunch of tight forest tunnels. The cool part is that now instead of having to go through only one or two tunnels, there are more opportunities to choose from to get to the basket. I'll be posting more as I go up and help with burn days and prepare for the tournament this spring. My goal is to post a bunch of new pictures so you can all see the Colorado beauty I see with the new forest conditions.