Surprise, a forest fire!

It was going to be hot again in the mountains, hot as in 85-90 and dry. No worries, we both got up early for a Rock-dog hike and I hit half the yard with the sprinkler. I'm probably going to get a water pump so I can use the creek water, but that's a later project/purchase For now, the well water does just fine and we are trying to keep the yard from drying up. Yes, I'm the only person who waters their yard... that they mow...

The wind was beautiful, we had the windows open so it was nice and cool inside. I went for a run down the mountain and I had a tailwind most of the way, something that has never happened. While I was enjoying the extra push, there was a fire that decided the wind was the perfect vehicle for it to use to conquer more territory.
They don't have an exact starting point for the fire but at this time they think it started at a campground. A campground... it's close to 100 degree's in that area this time of year and some asshole thinks they need Smores. Yes, I'm judgmental because we've come across dozens of fires that people left burning while we were off-roading and exploring. I hope whomever had this fire going enjoyed their sticky burnt marshmallows on stale graham crackers with not real chocolate.
When we looked at property some nice places came up right in the burn area but it was so hot and dry we worried about a fire. Hot as in 85 at night and 100-110 during the day in the summer.
Bam.

I'm just out of the tree's at our place and that's a nasty looking fire. It's about 20-25 miles in a place called Hayden Pass. That's a good distance away, with a lot of tall mountains, creeks and natural barriers to contend with... we aren't worried. It's certainly something to keep on the radar however.

This shot is on the plateau heading back to the city (traveling East). I didn't want to get stuck due to road closures because it's going to be a busy week at work. In case anyone begs to differ on visibility issues with smoke:

That small red/orange dot in the upper right is the sun. I don't have window tint, that's just a real un-enhanced/filtered pic.

The air quality at the cabin was fine, the winds are strong westerly. That's how they normally blow so with any luck it's only going to bother us in the city.

The winds, however, are causing it to jump huge green sections that would normally slow it down. This next picture you can see that it's green (and that's why there is so much smoke) where it's currently burning. Unfortunately with it jumping fast, it might get out of the green and into the 'might as well just toss down pine needles' dry area where this picture was taken from. Under all that green is a lot of fuel, not like Georgia undergrowth, but still nasty.

It's always exciting. Time for a sandwich.