Forest Fires

I came across the photo below and was reminded of the summer I lived in Steamboat Springs, CO (circa 2002). We had three fires just outside of town that created violent winds and immense ash clouds. You'd have layers of ash on your car each morning and simple things like starting a grill were against the law that summer because of the dry climate. I never did see dry weather like that again in the other years I lived in the Rockies and felt really lucky about that.

If you haven't witnessed the aftermath (forget about the during) of a forest fire, it's pretty terrible. Literally scorched earth and thousands of acres of once pristine wilderness completely gone. Most of the time, they're started by some bonehead who doesn't put out his campfire or stamp out his cigarette butt.