Our unusually
warm winter left little snow in the mountains.
When the storm clouds came in the summer they were empty of water and
full of lightning. Soon wild fires were
burning all around us in Eastern Idaho and we
were downwind from the worst of them.
Smoke filled the air for weeks.
DH and I decided to take a little trip to the coast to get upwind of the
hazardous conditions and go where the humidity was above crispy.
We packed up our
Subaru and traveled north to Montana with the Pacific Northwest circled on our map.
There was no
getting away from the noxious air in Missoula Salmon River area.
When we arrived
in the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington we were met with blowing dust and
more smoke.
The nearer we
came to the Columbia River and Grand Coulee
Dam the thicker the smoke. What we
didn’t know was a storm front had passed through during the night and the
lightning had started several wild fires in central Washington
The hills above
Grand Coulee Dam had already been torched by another big fire only a few days
earlier.
We crossed the
river on our way to the Cascade Mountains and
were met by this.
A police
blockade was set up to stop traffic from driving into the inferno. We learned the fire was heading north but if
we hurried we could probably get around it before roads were closed in that
direction.
Um….yeah.
As we drove up
the river we could see smoke and flames along the canyon walls.
The wind was so
strong and fire so intense that it had jumped the river.
We were driving
parallel to the smoke and were finally able to drive around it and on to the
highway that took us up into the mountains.
There we
discovered another fire, also lightning caused, was in our path.
Worried we would
be turned back at any time we proceeded toward the place where we had
reservations for the night on the east side of the Cascades.
Needless to say
we were glad to get west and north of all the wildfires and settled into a new motel
overlooking a quiet stream. Although it
was of little comfort to watch a television news reporter standing where we had
been only hours before telling us about the devastation.
13 comments:
It seems like the wildfires this year were just awful...one after another!
Wildfires are always so sad. We had some big ones this year in Colorado... we're getting the smoke from the fires north and west now.
This year I am looking forward to a cold wet winter (fingers crossed).
Oh my goodness I had no idea it was this bad. Amazing scary shots. I am so glad you found a motel by a river I would not have been so calm I think.
Wow cannot wait to read more. B
I've driven all through there, in milder times. I can see in my mind all you are describing. I hope it can end, although it hasn't yet.
All sorts of Biblical terms come to mind looking at those photos. Hope they get them under control soon.
It's like being on the run from all the fires (or the smoke), then. How frightening. I'm glad you were able to get on the move. Do you need me to set up the spare room?!!! Yikes, Leenie.
This is the year the world burned! How horribly sad and very awful!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Fires are scary - I would prefer not to be on the road when they are near as one can get caught so easily. Glad you are safe though, and I hope you got to some clear, fresh air!
Glad you made it through the hot stuff- your shot of the fire on the canyon wall is amazing! Fire jumping the river astonishing and powerful! Your timing for weather was perfect- the clouds have rolled in- the chill nestling in the bones already.
It all sounds really scary! I wouldn't fancy having to hurry to avoid fires. You got some great shots though. I have heard of the Grand Coulee Dam in a Woody Guthrie song(I think!) but never seen a picture of it. My favourite picture is the one of the pylons fading into the distance.
Glad you got home safely!
so very sad...AND scary.
it seems the whole world has been dealing with one tragedy after another lately. and here, in our country...between the fires and floods and drought...(oh my!!)
i DO hope they can get these fries under control...and YOU stay safe out there!
Scary travels..thanks for sharing the photos:(
So scary and sad. I'm glad you were able to get on the other side of them. It reminds me of a time when Eric and I were trying to outrun a blizzard going across Colorado--we kept going south, hoping we could finally go east to Missouri. The blizzard beat us and we ended up spending the night on the gym floor of a tiny high school.
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