Connie in Ouray

18,000 acres burned, zero containment, no lives nor structures lost. A southern portion of Montrose County is now on pre-evacuation notice as the fire continues to move northeast.  Zone 34 is directly east of Colona, pretty far away, and includes Cimarron State Wildlife Area, which is about 23 miles east of Montrose off of Highway 50. As I write this, I'm hearing planes in the air.  Yay!!  As of noon today, we are under a red flag warning for gusty winds until eight p.m.  We cannot catch a break.  Good news:  rain in the forecast for next week.  Bad news:  accompanied by thunderstorms, which means...you can guess, lightning. From Sutton Mine Trail yesterday:

 It's been a hard day as I've come to the realization that some wonderful hiking trails are gone.  I'm thrilled that no lives nor structures have been lost.  I'm less than thrilled with my anxiety level every time I see a whiff of smoke.  Maybe PTSD from the 2012, 2013 forest fires in Colorado Springs. Some photos from today: my panic tonight - this view from Camp Bird Road appeared to be a new flare-up Looking north, a clear delineation between clear sky and smoke from us all the way  to Grand Junction Leaving Montrose, all that smoke was my first  clear realization those hiking trails were gone Firefighters are heroes!  Can you imagine climbing this to get to the hotspot with all that equipment?  Picture is at Whispering Pines Bridge

  from our deck Helicopter!!

 I'm posting everything I know through email posts.

 I have never really suffered from seasonal allergies, but this year is biting me.  Grass pollen is high, trees moderate, so I think the grass must be getting to me.  My doctor advised me to throw everything at it, Claritin, Flonase, Astepro, and I'm keeping the house closed up.  The wind is not helping a bit. Bear activity in the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  We had two or three of them wandering around our house the other night, and I chalked that up to the outdoor meat grilling we had done.  Aaron and Marchelle have had two bear encounters at their house, both scary.  Bear aware. And we all know know the water issues we're facing on Mineral Farms Lane.  So many have been involved in trying to solve this issue without costing us three quarters of a million dollars, but our options are few.   Mike has been spreading pheromone packets around town with the help of the Ouray Trail Group.  Supposedly, when the pine beetles are...

 I've had a cold the past 10 days, but I finally got out Saturday, and town was jammed with people.  I know, I know, it's Memorial Day weekend, but I'm not prepared for tourists yet.  We want them, but they are so.much.trouble! Mike and I hiked up to the overlook early afternoon.  I'm trying to build my endurance after that cold - it seems to get harder as I get older - and the wildflowers are blooming.  We saw aspen daisies, sedum, larkspur, ragwort and sandwort, pussy toes.  The pasqueflowers are all spent.  There are a lot of dandelions, which my dad called "the children's flower."  Since then, I haven't been able to look at them any other way.