A Time for Everything

 Just as most of the wildflowers are calling it a season and the prairies are pulling on their coats of gold, one unobtrusive plant is making its first stand of the year. The Arctic Gentian is a beautiful flower that takes over the Beartooth tundra in late August and early September.

The first photo shows the plants getting ready to bloom.

 From the top.

There is a sea of the white and purple-blue blooms that will remain on the ground for the next few weeks.

I started back to college this week. I am working toward my 5th degree - this one in commercial photography. My posts will, no doubt, be less consistently regular but I hope my shared photos will improve in quality over time.

It is interesting being back in class after 20 years - especially when everyone there is about 35 years my junior! So far I have been welcomed with friendliness and not a little bit of curiosity. I am looking forward to this two year journey!

Early Heart

Choppers

After arriving home yesterday to a sky seemingly clear of all signs of fire, we awoke this morning enclosed in smoke yet again. Last night's incredibly strong winds not only created power surges that fried my main computer - a mini disaster, to be sure - but also gave new life to the dying embers of the Hole in the Wall fire.

 Today's post shows some of the helicopter photos I have taken over the last week plus a few shots from above the fire. Ken and I hiked up to the top of the Beartooth Plateau on Sunday and made our way to Line Lake so we could look down on the blaze. When we arrived it seemed to be well under control. By the time we left, after the winds picked up, the fire had found new life - much like last night. This thing seems to have more lives than a cat!

The obligatory photo of Heart Mountain with a chopper above!

This shot is from atop the Plateau, looking out at the action. 

Here you can just see plumes of smoke rising from below.

In this photo you can see the smoke increasing as the winds pick up.

Leftovers

 Here is the last batch of photos from the Beartooth camping trip.

 Looking down on the Cloverleaf Lakes from above. There is still lots of snow in the area.

I loved the look of this sole Wyoming paintbrush on the edge of the lake.

There were several beautiful waterfalls viewed along our day hikes.

Just as Heart Mountain is the defining feature from our property, so are Pilot and Index Peaks the identifying landmarks in the northwest corner of the state. Pilot, on the left, is often called the "American Matterhorn". It looks like the classic kid's drawing of a mountain!

Meanwhile...

Meanwhile, back in the Beartooths on our camping trip last week, I took photos of our day hikes, including the one to Trail Lake - pictured here.
Trail Lake is often ignored by anglers; maybe because it just seems too easy. After all, as the name suggests, it is right off the main trail. Of course you still have to hike 11 miles from the trailhead to get there so that rules out those people looking for a day excursion.

I have always had good luck there and love catching the big cutthroat trout. I only ever fish until I have dinner and with these big guys, one is enough to feed two people easily.

 Dinner! Cutthroat are really good eating fish - not oily at all and the meat is firm and tasty.

 A view of the campsite from above with the falls in the background. Rusty, Pancho and Hobbit can be seen relaxing around the tent.

This shot shows a view of Kidney Lake from above. Nearby are Heart Lake and Liver Lake.

Ken with Rusty and Capola.


Here at home the helicopters continue to fly overhead hauling buckets of water to the fire. It has moved quite a bit further north and the wind is carrying the smoke away from us. It is almost easy to forget there is a mountainside burning just a few miles away! With additional resources pouring in over the last two days I really think they will have the blaze completely under control in the next few days.

End of the World

What a week this has been! It may not be the end of the world but there are times when it has looked like it! For one thing, we have had one search and rescue call after another - it seems like people are now making up for the slow start to the season. Add that to the Hole in the Wall forest fire that refuses to behave and it makes for an unsettled atmosphere to say the least.

I took some photos of the fire as we made our way home from a SAR call near Cody yesterday afternoon. The top photo is from about 25 miles away. We could see that the fire - which had looked like it was under control when we left yesterday morning - had found new life and was moving north.

As we turned toward Clark from the highway we were able to get a shot of the firefighter camps set up in the valley with the fire in the background. To the left in the photo is the Clark Firehall. To the right is the community center with yurts and tents set up in the fields. There are now almost 200 firefighters battling this blaze.

As we got closer to home we were able to get a clearer idea of the size and direction of the fire.

Just after dinner Ken suddenly called me to come quickly and look out the windows. The wind had picked up and shifted and we had a wall of smoke and ash aimed right at our house. I took the photo above while standing on the back porch.

 This shot was taken through the dining room window. Right after this it went dark as we were engulfed by the smoke and ash. We shut the house up as tightly as we could and packed our bags in case we would need to evacuate quickly.

After a couple hours the wind shifted again and the smoke headed north. It is still hard to breathe outside but we are no longer worried about falling embers - at least for the moment.

The fire has grown to almost 4000 acres and they are now concerned it will follow the plateau all the way to the town of Red Lodge, Montana.

The last three photos were taken this morning and show the smoke hanging in the air. The whole sky looks like it is on fire!

Hole in the Wall Wildfire

 We interrupt the regularly scheduled series to bring you breaking news of the Hole in the Wall Wildfire. Ignited by a lightening strike on Sunday evening, the fire has now reached a size of approximately 600 acres. Today's good news is that the winds have calmed somewhat and so there may be a chance to get the beast under control before it does any damage to man made structures. The calm also means that the smoke has settled in the area and so it is hard to see outside, let alone breathe! That is not a comfortable situation when it is almost 100 degrees and we have no air conditioning!

 Yesterday we watched from a ridge on our back pasture as the wind stirred the flames and pushed them northward.

If you click on this photo you will see the Forest Service helicopter surveying the extent of the fire yesterday morning. The area is very rugged and dangerous to fire fighters. Chances are they will let it burn as long as it is not threatening homes in the area.  There is a public meeting tonight where we will learn more about the Forest Service plans.

 This shot shows the fire blowing up yesterday morning behind our bunkhouse. It is not as close as it looks in the picture.

Here you see our home and the bunkhouse in front of the fire. There are at least three miles of sage brush flats between us and the flames.

Last night we had a search and rescue call and didn't get home until midnight. It was amazing to see the entire mountainside glowing in the dark. Each tree seemed like a separate collection of red embers and it looked like a cheerful village shining in the black night instead of the destructive force we know it to be!