Welcome back to another dispatch from the fire lookout! Things have been incredibly busy up here. After a couple of relaxing months, fire season has kicked into high gear.
The quiet before the storm…
It always starts subtly. The rain comes less often. The air gets warmer. The huckleberries ripen. The greens gradually fade to brown, so slowly that you barely notice the change. The stage is being set for the big act at the end of August — fire. Eventually, the days are oppressive instead of warm. It’s so hot inside the lookout that you yearn for clouds instead of clear skies, for some rain to break the heat. But you know that with the promise of rain comes the threat of thunderstorms, lightning, and flame. The forest has been drying out all month long, and it’s ready to burn.
It had been a quiet couple of weeks — lazy days of looking out, picking huckleberries, writing, and watching the clouds dance over the valley. On one of these languorous summer days, as afternoon slowly faded into evening, the winds started to blow. A storm cell was approaching. As it neared, it pushed the smoke from distant fires ahead of it, reaching the valley just as the sun kissed the horizon. Then it began to pour, and the setting sun shone through the smoke and rain, turning the entire atmosphere gold. I’ve never seen anything like it. The gilded air was so substantial, so tangible, that I felt I could reach out and gather it by the handful. And at the same time, as the valley glowed with this ethereal light, lightning bolt after lightning bolt crashed down onto the ridge tops. I was rooted in place on the catwalk, completely awestruck, hoping not to be lightning-struck yet unable to look away. The bolts arced across the entire sky, stretching for miles before finding their unfortunate target. It took fires flaring up to snap me out of my trance and begin looking out in earnest. It was a spectacular show, and I’ll always carry this evening of light and fire with me.
An atmosphere of pure gold
The next day felt like D-Day. We’d had scores of downstrikes the previous evening and were scrambling to find all the new fires before air patrol flew over the district. I called in three new starts. A different lookout called in three more. A third lookout called in another. The fire crews were scrambled, but they couldn’t fight seven fires on their own. As I stood on the catwalk, searching for more smokes, there was a sudden rumbling overhead. Smoke jumpers had been enlisted in our fight and dove from the plane to attack two of the new fires. I watched their parachutes deploy as tendrils of smoke reached for them from the valleys below. I’ve never seen them so close. Then, air patrol spotted a fire none of the lookouts could see, and rappelers were called in, gliding down from a helicopter to the fire below. As the day progressed, two more fires were discovered, and yet more crews and helicopters were called in to fight them. All in all, that single storm started ten new fires on the district, and everyone was racing to put them out before they got out of hand.
Over the next couple of days, the crews were hard at work, and fires were called out one after the other. First, the County Fire. Then the Cross Fire. Then the Keane Fire. By the third day, six fires were extinguished, three were allowed to burn, and there was only one left to fight. But it was a hot day. Just as some more rappelers were being deployed onto a ridge top, the winds shifted, and the final fire began to roar. The crew beat a hasty retreat as the fire grew rapidly from a tenth of an acre to a quarter to a half. By the end of the day, it was 30 acres and growing. By the next day, it was 350. By the next, 700, as it turned the sun red and stained the sky an apocalyptic beige.
Smoke from the one that got away…
As I write this, I’m looking over a hazy valley, my view of the forest obscured by the smoke from this escaped conflagration. My lungs may not be happy, but this is an expected event. Each year the forest burns. Each year the valley fills with smoke. Each year I spend a few weeks with burning eyes and an itchy throat. And each year, the large fires signal the beginning of the end of my season on the mountain; because each year the rains come soon after to scrub the smoke from the air, to dampen the flames, and to herald the encroaching winter. I only have a month left up here before the snows return to the mountaintops, before the lookout is closed for the season, and before I head down the mountain to greener pastures and new adventures. I’m doing all I can to soak it in.
Books I’ve Read This Month
By Norman Maclean
Rating: 5*/5
I picked up this book, not really knowing what to expect. The title held the faint echo of a movie I watched as a kid, but nothing else. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did. It may have my favorite prose of any book I’ve read so far this year, with the narrative flowing seamlessly throughout Norman Maclean’s history and thoughts about his life. Coupled with USFS 1919, a brief but hilarious story about a summer spent working in the mountains as a packer, firefighter, and lookout, this is one of my favorite books of the year.
By Bettany Hughes
Rating: 4/5
A thoroughly enjoyable read. This book delves deeply into the history and background of the Seven Wonders of the World, yet somehow remains breezy and entertaining. Hughes weaves a rich tapestry of architectural detail, influence, and culture, using the Wonders to frame the worldviews of their constructors and connect them to our own today. Just imagining all of these colossal constructions towering over their contemporary landscapes filled me with wonder.
By Robert Macfarlane
Rating: 5/5
I had no clue what this book was about when I started reading it. I only bought it because I own another book by Macfarlane, which said that Mountains is the first of the trilogy. This book examines how the Western view of mountains has changed drastically over the last few centuries. Mountains used to be viewed as desolate wastelands, the homes of monsters and gods, prudently avoided. Now we climb them because they’re there. The prose is as light and airy as an alpine breeze, as Macfarlane ties the evolving views of philosophers and travelers with his own personal anecdotes from the top of the world. This has been one of my favorite reads of the season.
Ratings: [5* - All Time Favorite] [5 - Will read again in 5 years] [4 - Will read again in 10 years] [3 - Good story or prose, but won’t read again]
[2 - Has a redeeming quality, but not good overall] [1 - Irredeemable]
Let me know if you read or enjoy any of these books! I’ve included links to buy them on Amazon. It helps me out if you do, but no pressure at all. Libraries are free 😁
And send me your own book recommendations as well!
I’ll leave you with this quote from USFS 1919:
It doesn’t take much in the way of body and mind to be a lookout. It’s mostly soul. It is surprising how much our souls are alike, at least in the presence of mountains. For all of us, mountains turn into images after a short time and the images turned true…
Songs I’ve Had on Repeat
It seems that every season I discover a love song that plays on repeat for days. Man I Need by Olivia Dean is a perfect song. Within the first 30 seconds of listening to it, I had added it to numerous playlists and sent it out to friends. It’s an ethereal, joyful song for the ages that makes you want to fall in love. Each season, I also discover a dance song that I can’t get enough of. I discovered Protocol by Le Youth by accident, and it too has been playing over and over. There’s nothing like dancing on the boulders around the lookout as the sun goes down. Add in crushing by sombr, and you have my most listened to songs of the month. An indie rock song full of longing and heartache, crushing is an earworm and my most played song from sombr’s debut album. Give the songs a listen and let me know what you think!
Some Photos
The sky towards the end of that magical evening
The view on a smoky day…
The view on a foggy day..
Click the lightning for a surprise!
Congratulations on making it to the end. I believe this is my longest newsletter so far, and I’ve really enjoyed making it. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading it as well. I first created these as a way to stay connected with you, independent of social media algorithms, but they’re quickly becoming one of my favorite creative endeavors. It’s a place where I can share my thoughts more freely, without the constraints of time or potential virality, and where I can share more about my life. Let me know what you think, and if there’s anything else I should add. I want these to stay fluid and fun.
Love always,
Ben