Travel Day, Smoke and Fires

Yesterday was a “Travel Day” on the schedule so we “traveled”.  It’s good to do what the schedule says.  We went some 440 miles from Cody, Wyoming to Fort Collins, Colorado. About a seven hour drive, which took about eight with the horses. 

It was a smoky drive the whole way down from Cody and is here too in Northern Colorado from the fires in Canada.  Way, way too early for fires and I don’t care for the trend.

Fires are a normal summer occurrence in my home area of the Rockies as we are literally surrounded by state and national forests…but normally fire season doesn’t start till mid-August.  The horrible, non-stop, abnormal heat and early drought conditions that have been going on back there hasn’t helped and I believe it started with the lack of snow pack in the mountains this past year and continued through the Spring with little to NO rain.  We had a feeling it was going to be a scary fire danger year. And it is. 

As of last night, we have four fires burning in the area of my home town.  The one to the north (50 acres) and the two to the west (about an acre or so) were lightening induced.  The one to the south, they aren’t saying yet how it started.  The southern one (pictured above and below) began Sunday and is a zero contained 2000 acre wild fire at the southern end of our lake.  That’s about 10 miles southeast as the crow flies from my sisters place. She left me a message late yesterday telling me I had my nerve not being around to help load two unwilling horses into a trailer…She was helping a friend evacuate in the southern fire.  Ugh.  Not fun having to abandon your home.  I can hardly imagine it.

Well, it could be my up-bringing  with its corresponding location or could be I love all the seasons “just because”, but one thing is certain:  This is one of the main reasons I love snow when it’s supposed to snow {a.k.a., Winter} and rain when it’s supposed to rain {a.k.a., Spring}.

The National Weather Service indicates  winds increasing and thunderstorms possible late today and into tonight.  That essentially translates more to lightening strikes and less to any real rain.  But one can hope and pray they get some real water amounts and cooler temps soon.  I know it seems crazy as so many of you in other parts of the country are getting way TOO much water.

Please, if you would, take a moment to send a prayer towards the Idaho Panhandle.  I know many, many people would greatly appreciate it.

So, enough of the fire/weather drama.  We’re at the West Coast Budweiser Clydesdales home base here in Fort Collins, right on the grounds where the brewery sits.

Though it’s nothing like the set up in Saint Louis, they have a beautiful kinda Western-ish style (don’t think ‘cowboy’, it’s not like that) horse barn complete with Biergarten and gift shop.

There’s tours here too if you guys are ever out this way. 

The hitch will be here for two weeks doing a couple one-horse appearances and will hitch up all eight for a local Habitat For Humanity function.  After that it’s off to the 75th Sturgis Bike Rally Anniversary in South Dakota.  

Me?  Oh no.  I’m happily headed home to what may still be smoky Northern Idaho for a few weeks, gladly missing all that insanity.  I’d much rather deal with wild fires and smoke than wild, party-till-the-sun-comes-up bikers.  I’ll catch back up with the crew in Billings, Montana for the state fair!

Party-Pooper in Colorado,

~d.

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