Running the Gauntlet

Had to make a quick trip today to Williams Lake to pick up a family member.  On and off all this last week, portions of Highway 20 nearer to the Williams Lake side have had road closures and detours due to wildfires, so we weren't sure what to expect. 

We were happy that some showers in the last few days and westerly winds cleared most of the smoke out of the Chilcotin west of Redstone, but after that, early this morning it was smokey.  There's a lot of new blackened areas west of Bull Canyon, and quite a bit of fencing is going to need replacing, but most of the active fire next to Highway 20 has moved off and as you see in this photo, it's just black with a few smokers. There will be a lot less dead pine trees to burn in the Chilcotin after this summer.  The air was much cleaner and the usual fine views available this evening in the Chilcotin.

We had some pretty good rain in the Bella Coola Valley last night finally, freshened things up pretty nice and hopefully keeps the fire hazard down.  Grizzly