Driving up to the hill on day one of skiing, Sharon and I noticed one particular burnt tree amongst all the multitude of burnt trees, one that made a huge impression on us. It was unique among the millions, to say the least. I geotagged the site with a picture taken from our very own senior ski bus.
But the picture wasn’t enough. I vowed to go back to photograph the tree.
I booked a taxi to take myself back to the location, telling the driver my intention of finding and photograph the tree.
“Which one?” asked the incredulous driver. “The burnt tree on the way to the ski hill.”
The local driver, who not only fought the fires but saw millions of burnt trees of all shapes and sizes on a daily basis, never heard of such a doubtful destination. But he obliged.
“Oh, you must be with the senior ski group,” said the driver. “If so, yes—we can find the tree for you.”
Local goodwill gets you everywhere.
Worrying about returning to town after the cab left him in the middle of nowhere, I had the foresight to take the number for the taxi service but asked the driver where the taxi would pick me up after the search was done.
The driver looked at me and with some compassion said, “Tell the driver to pick you up at the burnt tree, of course.”
After trudging into the bare-bones forest and finding the tree among the many thousands of trees and capturing the best images I could take, I trudged back out to the road.
Unfortunately, no cell service, so no taxi service.
Since it was reaching the end of the ski day when people and buses would be descending from the ski hill, I figured I could catch a ride.
Luck was in my favour. Along came our own Jay at the wheel of our bus. After much frantic arm waving of the Senior Alpine Ski Club of Calgary’s name tag and beckoning for the coach to stop, Jay saved the day. If not for Jay, I would have spent the night with my now famous tree.
The end of the tale is that I did get great photos of the tree and showed why it was such a special burnt tree amongst all the myriads of burnt trees.
I won the Twisted Knickers award on the Marmot 2025 trip, for the gales of laughter generated during the telling of my story on the bus ride home and for my tenacity in preserving a unique part of the legend of the 2024 Jasper fire.
The pattern of burning is unusual in the tree. The core was burnt but the sides were not, just like two bracing and protecting arms. Behold, below, the beauty of The Burnt Tree. May it remind us of the quote, "I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” – Anne Frank
In memory of the life lost, and the dreams dashed, by the Jasper fire of 2024. May something even more beautiful be built from the ashes.
