The fires of 2021

As a dry June turned into a drier July the smoke rose over the peaks of the mountains of North Idaho and Western Montana.  As we roasted our way into a blazing August with no rain in sight.  The fires got worse and the smoke inundated the valleys and fields of the northwest.  On a Sunday morning the alarms rang on our cell phones announcing a mandatory evacuation of the Trestle Creek drainage.  This included where my wall tent sat.  My canvas walls and roof would do little to stop the flames if they reached my deck.  But my concern lay with the many people who live in these forests.  Most had an entire lifetime of memories housed in their dwellings.  My hat goes off to the brave men and women of the fire departments and hotshot crews who fought this and the other fires out west.  But we all know that Mother Nature is the only one who can put these out.  We need rain.  Typically the rains don’t come until mid September.  But as of late nothing is typical when it comes to the weather.  Once we make it through these fires the underbrush will take back the charred landscape. Out of this a new forest will emerge.  Elk habitat will become grand in these areas. This seems to have become the norm in these last few years.  My only hope is that this fall is a wet one, this winter a snowy one and next spring a rainy one.

We live in such a beautiful place.  It is very hard to not be able to adventure into the forests.

I hope to get back into the wilderness soon.