Fire in the Hills

From our campground, we could see the fires burning in the distant hills.

When we arrived in Santa Fe on July 7th, the area was in the middle of one of its worst dry spells in decades. About one-tenth of an inch had fallen since the beginning of the year. And massive wildfires had consumed hundreds of thousands of acres in the hills just west of Santa Fe, including the largest fire which had prompted the temporary closing of the Los Alamos laboratory. With our campground located south of the fires and a brisk southerly wind blowing for the duration of our entire visit, we were spared the dense smoke the blanketed areas north of the city. The smoke did make for some dramatic sunsets as the sun set behind the rising plumes. Thunderstorms finally arrived during the last 2 days of our stay which really helped in bringing the fires under control but only a sustained period of rain will truly put them out for good.