A wait can be most engrossing. Today I returned to the Barfoot ridges in the Chiricahuas with Cathie Sandell, Christopher Rustay, and Noel and Helen Snyder, again watching for those two young Short-tailed Hawks and their parents. (Incorrigible, you say?) At the very start of … Continue readingWaiting for the Short-tails
Yesterday Alan and I joined Helen and Noel Snyder for a Short-tailed Hawk vigil above Barfoot Park in the Chiricahua Mountains, and along the way we were distracted by a splendidly-colored Colorado Hairstreak, just emerged from its chrysalis and attempting to expand its wings. Emerging … Continue readingEmergence
I returned home from Flagstaff to welcome news: the Horseshoe Fire is virtually extinguished! The Forest Service’s fly-overs with infrared cameras have shown some remaining hotspots in smoldering tree stumps, but no live flames and no areas of concern. The final tallies: fire size 3,386 … Continue readingSouth Fork Reopens!
Well, maybe jubilation is overstating it… but a wetting rain did fall on the Horseshoe Fire last night, 0.12″ at our house! Lightning started two new fires, one in Pinery Canyon and one in Brushy Canyon, and the Forest Service is flying over the area … Continue readingJubilation
This morning at the fire briefing in Portal, the new map for the Horseshoe Fire hadn’t changed from the last one: the small amount of burning yesterday was in the interior of the fire. Today a major topic at the fire briefing was the weather. … Continue readingThunderheads
This morning’s briefing on the Horseshoe Fire was held under cloudy skies, with a ragged trace of virga falling to the northeast. The transition from Brad McBratney’s fire crew to Wayne Cook’s fire team became official this morning. (Brad is standing at the far left, … Continue readingFire Line Holding in South Fork
Yesterday the Horseshoe Fire was inordinately well-behaved: I saw no smoke! The fire crews report that the fire continues to back into the South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon in the vicinity of the trailhead, although you can see by comparing today’s fire map with … Continue readingSuppression in South Fork
The Horseshoe Fire’s continuing advance north has triggered new suppression efforts. It is still backing down drainages in South Fork Canyon, working its way toward the road. Suppression has become necessary to try to keep the fire from moving into the main Cave Creek Canyon. On the … Continue readingRenewed Suppression of Horseshoe Fire
At this morning’s briefing in Portal, fire team leaders summarized yesterday’s work and laid out the tasks for today. The fire’s behavior yesterday was somewhat unexpected, because the big cliffs failed to delay it as much as had been anticipated. As the new fire map … Continue readingHorseshoe Fire Briefing & Map
Today while participating in the annual census of Elegant Trogons in the Chiricahua Mountains, I had the opportunity to go into South Fork with a firefighter, Dario Villarreal, as high as the burn. What I saw couldn’t have looked better! South Fork burn (Photos by … Continue readingBurn in South Fork