Today we packed up the Element, squeezed ourselves in and bade farewell to Casa Holly.
On our way out of town, we noticed that the Las Conchas fire was in high burn today. Last night I made one last trip up to Los Alamos, and the fire was clearly visible from the town. There were a couple of glowing hot spots at the top of the ridge above the town, but the majority of the action was to the north in the Santa Clara Pueblo and the Valles Caldera. Last night the fire just seemed to glow. Today, with high heat and low humidity, the fire took off on two fronts. I read tonight that flames were 300 to 500 feet high today, and the smoke plumes were incredible. The fire has now consumed over 127,000 acres.
On the way to Santa Fe in late April, we had intended to stop off and see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but we awoke on the last day of our trip to 5 inches of snow and went directly to Santa Fe. So, we vowed to do it on the way back, driving from Santa Fe to the Black Canyon to Salida, CO to spend the night. Except that the drive alone, not including time spent sightseeing, would be 9 1/2 hours. After staying up late to pack up, we aborted our plan again and drove directly to Salida. The scenery was very different from the snow we encountered on May 1, though things were a bit hazy from smoke and blowing dirt most of the way.
Upon entering Salida, we looked up in the mountains and were surprised to still see a good deal of snow. Many parts of the the west - not including New Mexico - got well above average snowfall last winter. This was driven home when we got our first look at the Arkansas River in downtown Salida. Once again we ate dinner at the Boathouse Cantina right on the river, and these pictures were taken directly from our table.
The river was much higher, due to snowmelt, than in May. Seated next to us at the Boathouse were four members of the Lewis and Clark Hotshots from Montana. These firefighting teams from the U.S. Forest Service are deployed all over the country - and sometimes the world - to fight wildfires. What I didn't realize is that they are also deployed in anticipation of fires. These guys were deployed to Salida in anticipation of thunderstorms and lightning that could start fires. Since the weather didn't materialize, they got to have a nice dinner and we got to talk with them. Nice guys with a very interesting job.
Tomorrow, on to Salina, KS.
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