This morning I woke to a blood red sun and a haze of smoke over the ranch, Fan Rock shrouded in mist. It’s the fallout from two wildfires, one near Tensleep (40 miles down the road) and the other on the eastern fringe of Buffalo, near Ucross. Neither fires are currently a threat to the ranch, but it’s a reminder of how volatile and explosive this environment can be, especially when fuelled by 100 degree heat and 35 mile per hour winds.
Unfortunately, conditions are ripe for fire; it’s been a relatively dry spring, with a lower ice-pack than usual during winter. And with this heat so early in the season, everyone is a little nervous about a repeat of 1988, the year of the infamous ‘Lost Fire’ when the ranch was evacuated not once, but twice in a week...
The closest current fire, and the one causing all this smoke, is the blaze on the other side of the mountain at Tensleep, which is burning on a 300 acre front. Word is that the firefighters are back at base, however, so clearly it’s not a major concern ... unlike in Colorado Springs where the fire has erupted into “an apocalpyse” with 30,000 people evacuated...
Driving up from Denver yesterday - which was, incidentally, like a fan force oven even at 9am - we could clearly see the source of the fires, plumes of smoke hanging over the base of the Big Horns. Judging by that - though admittedly I'm no forest ranger - I'd say we're a long way from danger, despite the pungent smell of smoke in the air this morning.
Behind the smoke, however, it’s shaping up to be a beautiful morning at the ranch, a little cooler than yesterday and ideal for riding. So that’s what I plan to be doing, hitting the mesa on a steed that’s fiery rather than firey ...
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