Dear Isaac, Maia, and Virtual Travelers,

The day started in my yard, photographing daylilies, as always, this time of year. But, the sound was different. The aircraft noise from the Montrose airport, about 1 mile away, was humming. The Gold Mountain fire near Ouray was exploding in size, and the tankers and helicopters were in flight to fight it. We left later than I normally would have because I expected smoke and hot weather. I decided arriving late afternoon would be fine.

The trip is around 60 miles from Montrose to the Elk Creek Campground at Curecanti National Recreation Area. As we drove, the smoke became very dark and ominous. I am a cautious camper – I have wildfire apps and my satellite communicator. I knew we were actually driving away from the fire, but it seemed a paradox. At one point, the foam mattress flopped over enough to block my rear-view mirror. I got out to tie it up and the ask was falling. I hadn’t seen ash falling like that since I lived in Denver during the Hayman Fire in 2002.

The campground looked a little like Armageddon to me when we first arrived. The entrance station was closed with a “Stage II Fire Restrictions” sign and surrounded by clouds of smoke with ash falling. Or, maybe a good Twilight Zone episode about how man missed the signs of global warming.

I usually camp at the little primitive Curecanti site across Highway 50, so I don’t know the main campground well. But, with the fire risk, I decided being close to the rangers was a good idea. I verified the site number on my phone and pulled into what I thought was site 15. I got the dogs settled and went to work setting up camp, which seems to have gotten more complex this year. Between the foam mattress and the temperature-sensitive medication, it just takes longer.

As I set up the tent and equipment, the ash was falling all around. The distance was blurred in smoke. It was mid-week, so not a lot of other campers close to our site. After about an hour, the tent was all ready to go and I decided to take the dogs on a walk around the loop before dinner. We got to the next site and I was horrified! It was number 15. I was in 13 and I’ll just blame the smoke for misreading the signs.

So, I had to decide if I would pay double and book site 13 (pay for both sites) and stay in the smaller tent area without the tree shade or move. Site 15 would have more shade for the dogs and the medication. So, I decided to move. I was glad no campers were close to watch what came next!

By then the 30-40+ MPH wind gusts were starting. I decided to move the heavy stuff out of the tent, weigh it down if needed, and move the tent intact. That was a wild adventure! The foam mattress tried to run away in the sagebrush. The tent wanted to be a kite. When I got it to the new site, I didn’t have the stake or hammer in hand so had to hang on to the kite-tent while I dug them out. The tent waffled in the gusts as I held on for dear life. But, I eventually got one stake in and quickly worked to get the others in place as the tent kept shifting positions.

It took some bravery and persistence, but it worked. Then I got the equipment back in place and staked down the tent fly. Then, we finally got our walk. But, I already had my workout. I was thankful for a sense of humor, because the whole thing, from falling ash to the flying tent, seemed hilarious to me. My poor new cpris were a lot less new. But, I was out of my daily rut.

That night, I posted about the hilarous happenings on Facebook and got some stern replies about “didn’t I know there was a fire?” Of course I knew and I was driving further away AND the air quality was better than at home. The wind was pushing the ash and smoke to the reservoir but we had left the fine particles of smoke at home. As paradoxical as it sounds – we were safe and in better air than outside in Montrose. The dogs seemed unbothered by it all.

The next day, we drove into Gunnison for lunch. The air was even better there, but still smoky. We ate on the covered porch at Palisades and walked around town. By afternoon, when we returned, the winds began to pick up, again. I read for a bit and posted daylily pictures from the day prior. A guy wondered by the site with his dog, we chatted for a bit. He said he liked the weather here – I asked if he liked the smoke. He said – yes, he was from Texas and thought it smelled like a campfire. That seemed so weird to me until I thought about how dumb I was about tropical rain I was when I first lived on the Gulf Coast.

The sunset was spectacular that night. I had wanted to hike Never Sink like last year. I had wanted to walk down to the Reservoir that evening. But the smoke and wind made the whole trip a bit different, less fun but more of a unique adventure.

Yesterday, we packed up and came home. The tent inspection revealed a couple of minor snags in the bottom – maybe from being dragged from site to site – plus an old patch from Moki that needs replacing. I will wash her down and patch her before our longer trip to N CO in August. Come Santa time, I will upgrade to an Alps Taurus 2 AL with aluminum poles. I have used the newer Taurus 3 for all our other trips this year. It was new last year. I was glad I didn’t need to drag that one! Lesson learned – double-check the campsite number before set-up. LOL. And keep those wildfire resources on the phone and the Garmin close by.

Stay safe! This is going to be a long wildfire season! PS – I didn’t take many photos. I think monitoring and carrying the med everywhere with me is too distracting, but hopefully the next trip I’ll get the Canon going, again.

Happy camping, GM Cathy Hartt