Seeley Lake (Part II) and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

I guess that whenever there is a large concentration of trees, there is that potential for a forest fire. Back East that potential is minimized by smaller patches of forested woodlands, easier access to those areas for firefighting, and a generally “wetter” climate than out West. Having said all of that I am not trying to minimize that potential for dangerous fires in the Eastern parts of the country, just compare it to the conditions usually associated with the Western areas of the United Staes.

                   And, by extension, our neighbor to the North, Miss Canada, is experiencing forest fires on a scale yet to be experienced down here. The fires up there are massive. Canada is the second largest country in the world and over half of it is forested. The areas burning there are comparable to the size of Indiana, which is about a quarter the size of California. That means, for comparisons sake,  25% of California would have to be on fire in order to equal Canada’s dilemma.

                   Fortunately for Canada, the development of these areas is far less than any of the aforementioned areas of comparison.

                   So Don, why the mini lesson on forest fires?

                   I’m glad you asked that Mr. Smokey!

Yesterday we ventured up into the wooded mountains of this part of Montana. These mountains are not the rocky, craggy, enormous sentinels of the sky that are found a little to the east in the main part of the Rockies. They are, however, formidable peaks in themselves. We were on Mount Morrell, just one mountain that at 7900 feet in elevation is quite representative of this area.

                   And it is forested.

                   Or it used to be.

                   Before the Fire.

                   Before this time of year in 2017.

          That’s when lightning struck the area of Rice Ridge, about six miles north of here. The fire spread quickly, jumping from 40,000 aces to 100,000 acres on September 3^rd. Over 700 fire fighters were assigned to this fire, which at that time became the number one fire-fighting priority in the country. It was finally declared out in early October.

                   Our goal for the day was to find a nice place for a picnic lunch. A lookout is always a good bet, as the views are guaranteed to be expansive (because why would it be called a lookout if you couldn’t see anything!)

The road to the summit was thankfully in great shape and it wound its way around hairpin turns for about nine miles. The only issue was that at times, it was scarily narrow! Phillis was our pilot for the day, and she guided our vehicle like she had been on this road a hundred times. Our biggest fear was that we would encounter not a bear, (or Grizzly, as they are around here) or any other critter that could cause us harm, but we were terrified of meeting up with the very formidable “Oncoming Vehicle”.

                   These creatures can be quite stubborn when it comes to backing up and sometimes an Argument of Significant Proportions can be had as one of you will need to “put it into reverse” on this tiny narrow trail of a road with precipitous drop-offs. Fortunately, we did not encounter this creature on either the way up, or on the way down.

                   We did encounter one other life form on this venture, that of the relatively rare Lookoutius Rangerous. Our specimen, David, originally hailed from way upstate New York and was currently living up in the Tower. The rarity of this find, comes with the significance of his living in the tower full time. He only ventures down into civilization twice a week for some PT therapy for an unspecified injury received while at work.

                   There has been a tower here since the 1920’s and this one replaced that older one in 1962. It is on the National Register of Historic Fire Towers which I am sure that it is proud of even though none of us (including you!) knew of the Registers existence!

                   The deforesting of areas like this is quite common if you look at the word common and compare it to eons. Most forests have evolved and are designed to have massive burns every couple of hundred years or so. The burns and fires are strictly for Mother Nature’s benefit and by extension really ours also. I won’t go into the details here as you’re already probably bored to tears, but if you’re interested a quick search of this topic will give you answers that are concise and informative at the same time.

          Unfortunately, the topic of this Post is the very issue that kept us from having crystal clear views of the surrounding areas. There are no less than three forest fires currently burning within this region and their collective smoke has given everything a hazy look.

          Maybe, if we all get the courage up to face the Squeezing Gauntlet of the Drive again, and the fires are all gone, we will wind our way back up to the summit and be able to see it all more clearly 😊