What I Photograph When it’s Smoky

The Canadian fires were still burning out of control, but the winds must have shifted before the smoke got to me. So the skies on my last day in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming a few weeks ago were the clearest they’d been for a while. I made it to the trailhead and had a nice conversation with a British Columbian native who I met there.

He and some buddies would climb for a few days in the world-famous Cirque of the Towers, then head down south to visit relatives in Boulder, Colorado near where I live. It’s a small world, I thought. He told me the national park and mountain resort of Jasper, Alberta was burning. I told him how sorry I was, remembering when my own Rocky Mountain National Park lost over a third of its area in the 2020 wildfires.

I jammed to music and relaxed to an audiobook on my seven-hour drive home. But as I was approaching Laramie, Wyoming, I could see it. A massive brown cloud stretched across the southern horizon.

Oh no. I thought. Rocky is on fire again.

As I got closer and closer to home, I realized it wasn’t the national park. This time, it was much closer to my house. As I pulled into town, I realized that this…

Read this story from Dean A — and all the best stories on Medium.
The author made this story available to Medium members only. Upgrade to instantly unlock this story plus other member-only benefits.

Access all member-only stories on Medium

Dive deeper into the topics that matter to you

Get in-depth articles answering thousands of questions

Achieve your personal and professional goals