Hayden Pass Fire Update

Hayden Pass Fire Update



(I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath for an update to Tuesday's post so here goes.)

O yay! We're Number One!

The Hayden Pass Fire is the number one priority forest fire in the United States. That's a dubious distinction, not one anyone wants.

Here's a map of the area that is affected:

My cabin is a little to the left and a little above the D in "Div A".

The fire can be seen from space. 

Astronaut Jeff Williams took this pic:

FROM SPACE!!! I think I see my cabin there. Eek. 

Monday afternoon the fire looked like this from my main road so I freaked and drove to Denver.

Fortunately when I returned Tuesday evening, things had settled down a bit. At least the smoke had. 

And the fire had not spread beyond a couple hundred acres. All good news.

This morning the sky looked like this:

Forest fires are like recalcitrant teenagers that have been sent to their room for the night. You think they are in there asleep but truthfully they are on their cell phone, texting up a storm, plotting with their friends on how to get back at you the next day.  The fire "lays down" at night (doesn't that sound sweet?) and then roars back to life about lunch time the next day. (again, like a teenager-neither one gets up early.)

So I went into town and I thought I would show you your tax dollars at work. 

As I come into Salida there is "fire camp" .

This is where the big trucks are stationed, equipment, people... and apparently the extra PortAPotties...all at the US Forest Service building. 

Some of the firefighters are sleeping in those tents, others are here:

Camping at the practice field of the high school. 

These guys bust their butts and then they have to go back to tents?? Poor babies. 

But from what I am told they eat VERY well. That's good. 

On the way back home, we have a news truck on Highway 50 from one of the TV stations along with a sign warning about poor (smoky) visibility in the canyon.

In my little bitty town there is the media staging area. 

It is at the Howard Volunteer Fire Department. They are feeding the people that have been evacuated three meals a  day. If you feel like doing something really nice, send them a donation. They could use it. 
Here's their GoFundMe link:    https://www.gofundme.com/haydenpassfire

Overhead the helicopters whump whump whump, carrying their giant orange buckets full  of water.  The helicopters scoop water out of ponds and then dump them on the fire.

I think it is really cool to see them. Carlos thinks they are terrifying.

There are seven helicopters and at least one air tanker.

Bulldozers are used to create fire lines, hopefully stopping the fire by making a break in the available fuel.  We are under the supervision of a Type 2 Incident Management team.  There are hot shot crews involved....the elite of the forest fire fighters. There are baby hot shot crews also- the hot shot wanna-bes.  Four different divisions are attacking this fire from three different sides. The backside is in forest land and not easily accessible. 

But you know what? We are very very grateful for the work of the firefighters. 

See? There's a sign on the highway thanking them...

Keep up the good work. 

Thanks. 

Hayden Pass Fire by the numbers as of Thursday afternoon:

•The fire covers 14,788 acres. That's about 23 square miles that are burning. My cabin is about 5 miles from the fire. The fire was first visible on Sunday, quickly grew to 5000 acres and now has almost tripled in 4 days.  Do the math, this fire is traveling. Fortunately, not towards me. Yet.

•There are 442 people fighting the fire. Not a lot of people for 14,788 acres.

• NO structures or lives have been lost so far. Let's hope it stays that way.

•Estimated date for having this fire completely under control and out?  About October 1, 2016 or around the first snow fall.  Most of what is burning is wilderness area which cannot be reached. The firefighters are focusing on protecting property, livestock and lives. For now, the wilderness can burn. Not much else can be done.

•O! The best part? The fire is ZERO PERCENT CONTAINED as of right now. Zero. Which means while I feel very safe, I also realize that 6 or 7 miles is NOTHING if the wind changes direction.

Practicing my S'Mores recipes just in case!

(Fire numbers and map from Inciweb... a really cool website if you like to follow forest fires.)

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FIBArk 2015

FIBArk 2015...


I've talked about FIBArk before. First in Boating the Arkansas (River)
Here is last year's post:

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FIBArk: It's a Party!  June 2014

FIBArk: First in Boating the Arkansas 


Today is the start of FIBArk.

What's FIBArk, you ask?

First in Boating the Arkansas (River) is the nation's oldest whitewater festival. And it's held right here in my backyard of Salida, Colorado.

From the official FIBArk website a brief history:

The FIBArk boat races started June 19, 1949 when six boats entered the Arkansas River in Salida on their treacherous 57 mile run to Canon City through the vertical cliffs of the Royal Gorge Canyon. Fueled by the spring snow pack runoff from the mountains of the Continental Divide and 5 or 6 feet above normal level, the river water ripped down the canyon creating tremendous currents and boiling rapids where the valley walls narrow and the river floor drops.

Only two boaters finished the race that year and the following year the course was shortened to 45 miles. Only one person finished the second year.  In the interest of keeping the contestants alive, the race was shortened again to 25.7 miles for the third year. It is still the longest whitewater race in the U.S..

And probably the most fun. The entire town turns out for four days + of races, parades, beer, and music. And maybe just a little pot.

Thursday evening is the Tenderfoot Hill Climb.  Remember my drive to the top of S Mountain last week? Runners start at the base of the mountain and run STRAIGHT UP, then back down again.  And they do it in less than 12 minutes. It's amazing. I get out of breath just watching. 

Runners heading STRAIGHT up to the top of Tenderfoot/S Mountain.

Photo by Matt Kroschel/The Mountain Mail

Friday starts with a Pancake Breakfast, followed by races in the river, a carnival and live music in the park.  At night there is dancing on the grass in front of the bands.

Saturday morning there are 5 and 10k running races followed by the parade down F Street. I LOVE a small town parade. Candy is thrown to the kids. There are firetrucks and police cars, the mayor and the Shriners. So much fun and it makes me feel like I am in 1950's America.

 Veterans proudly march.

People line the street for the parade down F Street.

All day long there are more water races and then at 5:30 there is the Hooligan Race. Anything that floats (and lots that don't) can "race" down the river in front of a screaming and cheering crowd. O yea- no actual boats are allowed. Most contestants end up in the water, most floats end up disintegrating. 

 River Rat

 There's a very large bridge support in the middle of the river these guys are trying to avoid.

A prison break? 

Nope, just a Hooligan float.

Then more music in the park. And dancing. The air is heavy with smoke...a contact high is possible. 
Beer and wine are served. Babies dance.  Gray haired couples dance. Teenagers dance. All are welcome. As the night goes on, the girls get prettier, the guys get more handsome, the party gets louder.  Last year we wisely took a hotel in town just so we wouldn't have to drive home with the rowdies. Don't have one this year but I figure the girls have friends in town to stay with and I won't be out late. 

Music at Riverside Park.

Not even dark and already the photos are blurry.

The actual downriver races are on Sunday. There's a river dog contest. And more music. 

By 6pm, things are wrapped up, the whole party is over. 

This year I confess to seeing it more from a local's point of view than in previous years. I went into town today and stocked up at the grocery and ran all my errands. I'm not interested in trying to fight the crowds over the next four days if I don't have to. And already I am weary  of the drivers not familiar with the canyon road that I drive every day. It's a narrow road, river on one side, mountain on the other. Each direction has one lane.  Nervous drivers tend to straddle the middle yellow line. That would work if it were a straight road, but it isn't. Not at all.  I dodged two cars today-both coming at me in my lane- on my way into town. 

Nevertheless, I am still excited for the fun to come. 


An Update:

Taylor Stack, 15 and the current owner of our baby chicks, won the Tenderfoot Hill Climb with a time of 10 minutes, 39 seconds. The second place runner came in at 11 minutes 7 seconds which means Taylor was hauling butt up and down that hill. Even more impressive, he didn't even look like he had broken a sweat doing it. Just came running across the finish line like it was a stroll in the park. Amazing. Especially when you consider he was running at an altitude of about 7000 feet. 
Wow.
(And he was only 7 seconds off the all time record speed of 10 min 32 seconds set back in 2006.)

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FIBArk is one of my favorite things about Salida.   Four days of partying in the middle of town. Rides, races and music.  I LOVE the music. What's not to love about people of all ages dancing in the grass next to a beautiful river under the watchful eye of a giant "S" while free, live music is playing? Seriously!

So FIBArk starts on Thursday.

I will be experiencing it from a different aspect this year because I will be working during the days.
It should be busy, don't think I will really care.    I can still go into town for the music at night and hopefully will make it into town in time to watch the run up S Mountain.   Sunday I can still watch the racers come under the bridge in my little town.

But this year the river is high. REALLY high.  For the first time since they started having it, the Hooligan Race will be cancelled.  That's a really smart move. Two rafters were lost last week in our area of the Arkansas River. An 11 year old boy and a 52 year old man.   Absolutely no reason to put a bunch of partiers in make-shift rafts on a river that dangerous.

Here's a little video of the river to give you an idea of how fast and high and WILD it is:


                               

If by chance this video does not show up, click here.

And excuse the sideways view. Didn't look like that on my iPhone!

Basically there are trees and logs and Lord knows what else floating in the river. So if the rushing water doesn't carry you away, the debris will pull you under.

Hoping this weekend will be a fun and safe time. Best wishes to all the water participants.

I'm gonna stick with the music!

O My Goodness.

Heavens.

Somewhere around the end of May I just lost interest.

Probably a bit coinciding with work starting full time but also just a by-product of not having time or money or locale to work on my list. 

Everything is just on the back burner.

I think I will pick up speed again in July. Once I figure out exactly what I am doing and where I will be.

Until then, I have a garden update.

I have volunteers.   I could tell when we bought this place five years ago that there had been beautiful gardens. But the cabin had been empty for 3 or 4 years before we bought it. Then for three years, we didn't live here full time.  The gardens suffered.

Lots of rain and an application of fertilizer has changed all of that.   Plants that I didn't know existed are now blooming. Thriving. Growing.

It's wonderful.

First off the irises.

O my goodness! They are just gorgeous.  I don't know their official names but these giant purple ones are breath taking. The insides are lined with yellow fuzzies. I've been cutting them and taking them into work. So pretty.

And the big surprise was the yellow irises.  I knew there had been purple ones. That first year a couple had bloomed but I thought they needed dividing or were too old or something. Never had I seen the yellow ones. But here they are this year.

The yellow ones are in three different spots in the yard. Yet I never knew I had yellow irises. 

The daisies made an appearance last year but this year they are back in full force.

Don't they look happy?

I love these little daisies. 

Elle Mae and Howard do, too. 

Sometimes they grab a flower or two. 

I can share. A little.

My peonies. Well. I'm making progress. They are making progress.  At first I was just getting a few leaves. Last year they were divided and moved and fertilized. A few more leaves.  This year one of the plants is starting to look like a plant. I still don't see how it will have a flower, seems too insignificant to hold up a huge bloom. But maybe. Crossing my fingers and holding my breath.

Maybe I should go out and read "The Little Engine that Could" to these guys.

I think I can. I think I can.

Pleeeeassseeee. 

Just one lovely peony? 

And the most amazing volunteer of all. This guy showed up last year and had one giant alien eye bloom. (We left town before the rest of the pods opened.) I had no idea what it was. I was pretty sure I was reliving "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". This year I am even more sure of it. I mean, seriously. Look at that thing. Pod people. 

Turns out it's just a poppy plant. Not something I have ever seen in Texas. Can't wait until I have a bunch of those red alien eyes staring in my window.


And not of the volunteer variety, but actually one from the list. No. 39: Grow a vegetable from scratch.  My potato plants. Up and doing their thing.

Yay!