The wildfires in the western US have been news for years now, and every year they seem to get worse. This year, from what I understand, wasn’t as bad because of a decent snowpack. But there were still fires, and evidence of past fires, just about everywhere we went after we passed the Midwest. Trail closures and warnings were common, but we lucked out as far as haze and air quality were concerned—neither came into play too much for us.
But fires are definitely a way of life out here, and while we hiked past many stands of blackened trees and hillsides, we experienced it most vividly in Sequoia National Park, where we hiked a four-mile loop that had recently had a prescribed burn. Blackened trees and underbrush were everywhere, and although I know it was probably a trick of my mind, I swear I felt a hot breeze blowing on me as it crossed what, in my brain, was a field of glowing embers. You could definitely still smell the charred wood, though, I know that was real, as were the smoking and smoldering trees we passed along the way. I took some video to try and give a sense of what its like, and it doesn’t really come close, but I still wanted to share it for those of us from back east who don’t really have a concept of what its like.
It definitely made an impression on me.
Comments
Post a Comment