The devastation starts on the western slope. Many of the cabins that once lined the highway between here and Sacramento are now gone. Instead, brick and stone chimneys stand sentinel, visible through blackened toothpick trees that dot the mountainsides. Gray ash on the ground blends with the towering granite cliffs of Lovers Leap. Lines between the dirt path of the Pony Express National Historic Trail and the charred forest surrounding it are blurred.
Between the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin is Echo Summit, elevation 7,382 feet (2,250 meters). The area is pocketed with lakes and cliffs. Instead of the densely packed manzanita and oak that cover the Sierra’s western slopes, fir and pine pepper this summit.