The fire burnt underbrush but left a healthier patchwork of old-growth forest. Ponderosa pines are well adapted to such relatively dry spots for several reasons. First, they are among the few conifers with long taproots that enable them to extract water from deep ground layers. Second, they survive wildfire well because their needle clumps are located high in isolated clusters. If you'd like to continue to Boulder Creek itself, walk back to the fork and take the main trail another 1.7 miles.
Flat campsites are scarce here, but lunch sites abound.
In summer, it's fun to wade upstream 100 yards to a small waterfall and cold, swimmable pool. Backpackers can follow the Boulder Creek Trail another 6.8 miles beyond this first creek crossing. The path climbs steeply away from the shore for 1.9 miles, then fords the creek three times before launching uphill on a switchbacking climb to Road 3810. To return on a loop, hike back to Pine Bench and go straight at all trail junctions. At the bottom of the hill the trail joins an ancient roadbed, which soon forks.