Forest Fires | Soldier Creek Forest Service Campground | Utah

Soldier Creek Campground belongs to the Forest Service, it is part of the Strawberry Reservoir but it took about 12 miles to get to the this side.  It's a very nice campground, and I had a really scenic spot overlooking a part of the lake - this is my view right out my door.

Unfortunately, the view from the back window gave me a front seat to view the fires.  This was pretty much the scene for the first few days.  I wasn't really concerned because I was told that it was about 2-3 canyons away from the campground.  Besides, there was lots of water in the lake and a good portion of it was between the campground and the opposite shore. 

For a few days, I watched two of these seaplanes land on the water, run for quite a while and then take off to circle to the fire.  They were loading water from the lake into those pontoons and then going to dump it onto the fire.  They always worked in pairs and I was told that they do that so one could go in low and the other goes in high to douse the flames.

Even after working at this for about 3 days, for 5-6 hours each day, the fire was still going, and getting really smoky when the wind shifted.

When the wind shifted, the campground was full of smoke - and ash!  Tiny flakes were floating from the sky and landing all over everything.  Still, we were in no danger because the fire itself was far away.  Below is a long shot of one of the helicopters that appeared as the smoke fog came in.  This is a really long zoom, and with all the smoke in the air, you can just see the helicopter itself and the bucket they're filling from the lake, which he then dumps on the fire. 

After 2 days, the wind shifted again and we were back to clear air again.  The fire was still burning, but it had certainly decreased in size.  There were still hot spots that were flaring up and the workers on the ground were dealing with them.

I was talking to the camp host one day and we recalled "Smokey the Bear", which was a big campaign decades ago.  Ads would be on television and in print publications, as well as signs along the highway.  I'm not sure why this campaign was stopped years ago, because certainly people still need to be educated about fire prevention.  This year has brought us major forest fires that have raged for thousands of acres. 

Two years ago, I visited the Smokey the Bear museum in Capitan, New Mexico.  The displays showed all the signs, posters and all sorts of information about how to deal with campfires, and fire safety in general.  A small bear cub was rescued in a forest fire years ago, which is where the Smokey the Bear mascot came from. 

Little animals, like the ones below at this campground, and larger animals that are rarely seen, are killed by forest fires if they can't get away fast enough from an approaching fire.  Homes are lost, as well as some fire workers. 

Across the lake from the fire, right my area, people were still out in boats and enjoying the day.

At the campground, it was business as usual, I was hiking around finding pretty scenery and other people were enjoying their stay. 

This was a bit of a hazy day, but I love the wind ripples on water.

I took a drive to the opposite of the lake, the road was snaking along the side of the mountain, but at least they had guardrails.

The scenery was pretty, but you could tell the haze had blotted out the blue sky that you'd normally see.

Unless you were facing away from the fire.

By the time I left this area, the fires were out and the air was clear all over!



Smokey The Bear | Capitan | New Mexico

In light of the fires in the Northwest, I thought it was timely that I should find the Smokey Bear Park.  I guess some of us need reminders of what can happen with a campfire.  I have seen people go in their RVs after an evening campfire and leave the fire either in flames or smoldering.  One night, a campfire was left by my neighbor - I had to go out there and dump water on it so that I could feel safe going to sleep.

This is a little pond in the park, with signs that remind us that little creatures who live in or near ponds, streams or lakes need protection too.  This could include frogs, lizards, raccoons, turtles, birds and others, as well as plants in the areas.

Trees are obviously what is on our minds when the fires are raging.  It also destroys animals in the area, as well as destroying their habitat.

Back in the middle of last century, there was a fire raging in the Capitan area.  Some of the firefighters found a little bear cub clinging to a burning tree.  That cub was rescued, treated for his burns and was named "Smokey".  After he recovered from his wounds, he lived in the Washington, DC zoo until he died at the age of 26, which is considered a long lifespan for bears.  Since he had been the mascot for the fire safety campaign, he was brought home to Capitan and buried here in the park.  The photo below shows the gravesite.

This is the carving that is near his grave, you can see it in the photo above, but the light wasn't good enough to get the gravesite and this carving in one shot.

We are all familiar with Smokey's posters, ads and messages, as well as the figure below.  The museum has all sorts of vintage posters of reminders to put out your campfires completely, as well as other fire safety posters.

There were all sorts of plants and trees around the park, reminders that they would all be consumed by a careless fire.

I went back into my photos to find this Smokey hot air balloon that was in the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta about 2 years ago.  He still makes appearances in lots of the balloon gatherings.

On a lighter note, Capitan has a great store that was unfortunately closed when I was there.

I was wishing they had been open, it would have been fun to see what they had inside.