Smoky Selway Ridges

I shot this frame back in early July, when the Wolf Creek Fire was just a little smoulder above our camp, spreading a typical summer haze through the Selway river canyon. Not long after, it and the neighboring Cascade Fire more or less merged and gradually spread to 9,000 acres or so. The Selway is a fire-adapted ecosystem, and the gradual and undramatic growth of these particular fires make me optimistic that this was a healthy burn. Even so, I have my fingers crossed for the beautiful camps and stream grottos in these fire perimeters, and I’m quite glad to see the current early rain rolling through the Northwest. Lots of other fires this year were far more dramatic and I expect much less healthy. Every summer season now is a lament for a long list of places remembered and places not visited in time.