Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

The temp hit 100F Saturday.

The temp hit at least 98F Sunday before a few-minute rain came through and dropped the temp to 77F in early afternoon! The cooldown was the best (though it did return to 90s); the rain dampened the ground … and as soon as it quit, the ground was dry. That fast.

I learned yesterday from a firefighting source that the Ferris Fire now is the No. 1 priority wildfire in the United States. That’s not based on size (it’s 64,464 acres, 23 percent containment, and there are 1,031 personnel fighting this fire (numbers as of Sunday evening)); it’s based on things like protecting grazing and farmland, homes/private properties, infrastructure (the fire is burning on both sides of the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association powerline), etc.

I didn’t take many pix of the Ferris Fire from Disappointment Valley on Friday. I did take some from Ridgway of the Gold Mountain Fire, burning about 35,622 acres (with 5 percent containment and 1,006 people working on it).

Taken from Ridgway State Park north of Ridgway looking southeastish. The fire is burning on the east side of U.S. Highway 550 between Ouray and Ridgway.

Just to say that there are multiple fires burning in the state, affecting many, many people. Some directly (the loss of homes and businesses is absolutely devastating), some indirectly, and I bet everyone in the state knows someone who is affected, whether by fire or smoke or both. Keep them all in your thoughts.

Buckeye and his band made an appearance Friday. They’d disappeared into the folds and ridges and drainages of the far eastern and southeastern regions of Spring Creek Basin, getting water from seeps in those arroyos and grazing places with little to no competition, and I’d been missing them.

A big shout-out to members of my parents’ church: Mooreville Global Methodist Church in Central Texas. My parents have asked them to keep our area and our people and our critters and, especially, our firefighters in their prayers. I’m not a religious person, per se, but I believe in angels, and I believe in the power of prayer. I cried when my mom and dad told me that. 🙂 Thank you, thank you, thank you, all!

Well, as predicted, the relatively clear sky Thursday returned to smoky by mid-morning yesterday.

Coverage Reporter Traci Clark on Watch Duty noted that “While firefighters continued to improve containment lines along the east and southeastern sides of the Ferris Fire today [Friday], there was an increase in activity in the northwestern area down into Dolores Canyon. Crews responded by dropping retardant and improving dozer lines in the area. The fire has not crossed the westernmost bend of the Dolores River and currently remains within containment lines.”

The fire has consumed 63,271 acres and is 19 percent contained.

Today and tomorrow, the mercury is likely to hit and surpass 100 degrees in many places across Colorado’s Western Slope, and as previously noted, the humidity is nearly nonexistent. Next week, then, while we have decent rain chances … those chances come right alongside thunderstorm activity.

Above: Looking south to Seneca’s band … Filly Peak beyond the horses … Ferris Fire smoke filling the southern horizon beyond (thankfully) Disappointment Valley.

Top: Seneca, carrying on. The mustangs seem to be more bothered by the usual summer flies and gnats than anything else.

Bless the firefighters. Stay hydrated. Stay safe.

Bad summer air quality is the new normal. Though you wouldn’t know it from the above pic of Flash, following his mares last night to water.

I love those clouds. I love that (relative) lack of smoke! Looking south.

The Ferris Fire has burned 62,915.6 acres as of Thursday night and is 19 percent contained. From Watch Duty’s 6:33 p.m. report by Regional Captain Adam Johnson:

“Crews worked to build containment today, especially in the lower Dolores River Canyon along Forest Roads 504 and 521, utilizing strategic firing operation along more than a mile of road.

“Fire behavior moderated throughout the fire area as winds laid down and humidity was higher in the morning after rain showers yesterday.

“Hot shot crews worked directly along the fire’s edge on the portion of the fire near Benchmark Lookout. That area has been relatively calm for several days. [I’ll second that; I saw just one tiny little smoke below Benchmark from Spring Creek Basin yesterday. I could see swaths of red retardant across the trees and land around it even from the basin.]

“The weather forecast for the coming days shows hotter and drier conditions with humidity as low as 6% and a potential increase in fire activity, per Ferris Fire Information on Facebook.”

There are nearly 660 people fighting the Ferris Fire currently. Gigantic and heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of them!

Gaia at sunset, walking away from water following her band.

OK, so we still have smoke in the air. … But that’s not a bad sunset, all things considered.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency in response to the Ferris Fire. Note that the photo captions in the linked article are wrong (at least as of my viewing); we’re actually in southwestern Colorado. Also, as a recovering journalist who worked in Colorado and was involved in the coverage of at least a few fires, I capitalize the f in fire when it’s a named fire: Ferris Fire, not Ferris fire. That’s a journalist-nerd note, but I see it in articles both ways, and this is to explain why I capitalize it.