Summer is forest fire season in the west and this year was no exception. Fortunately, none of the fires was close to us, but smoke from these fires often travels hundreds of miles. One day there was so much smoke that it was as if we were in a thin fog, with a smell sharp enough to make me feel that the fire was just over the ridge. This is what it looked like later in the day. The peak just to the left of center is Black Tooth, a bit over 13,000′ high and still adorned with patches of snow in August, as were a number of other peaks this year.
A number of years ago, a fire got close enough to the cabins for us to see the flames, forcing all of us to evacuate. The fire jumped part of the Red Grade Road, but thankfully, our cabins and almost all others in the area were spared. I never want to be that close or closer to a forest fire again.
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