Trips wouldn't be the same without chaos. Plans change, morph, or are thrown out the window entirely. Our trip had already gotten off to an inauspicious start when our first destination featured bath water. On our first full day in the mountains, the fishing had been glorious. The hiking was superb. There really wasn't much that could get better. In other words, it could only go downhill.
Upon arriving back at camp, the first thing I noticed were the wildland fire vehicles from the USFS in the trailhead parking lot behind our tents. Suddenly, the lightning barrage from the day before was front and center in my mind. Had it triggered a fire? My mind started racing, imagining our return to the trailhead after days of hiking to find my truck smoldering. That truck was our ride back to Tennessee, so getting it caught in a forest fire was not high on my list of preferred activities.
We began to discuss our options. Our first instinct was to drive to the west side of the Winds and simply formulate an entirely new hiking plan on the fly. After all, we had always wanted to hit the Titcomb Basin lakes among many others. Maybe this was just a good excuse to try some other spots. The one thing we agreed on was that we needed some type of closure on the fire concerns before trekking out into the wilderness the following morning.
Right about the time that we came to that conclusion, things got even more ominous. A low roar had been building back towards Lander. Suddenly, a Sikorsky S-64E flew over the horizon headed our direction. I had never encountered one of these monstrosities, so I was still trying to figure out what the large helicopter was up to as it flew just uphill above camp and circled a couple of spots. Before long, it was headed back our way where it flew out over the lake and dropped a huge hose into the water. As the helicopter started to pump water into the holding tank, we all were getting more freaked out by the minute.
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| Getting water to fight a forest fire. ©David Knapp Photography |
It finished, circled the lake and headed back up the hill where it began making water drops on what was apparently a wildfire. The clouds of steam and smoke that rolled up looked way worse than it turns out they were. At the time, we were impressed and also wondering if we needed to be leaving at that very moment. Thankfully, after a few more drops, the helicopter headed back towards Lander and we were left hoping that was the end of it.
Sure enough, right along about dusky dark, a crew of wildland firefighters emerged from the growing gloom and started putting up gear in their trucks. I made a beeline over. Knowing they were tired, I didn't want to interrupt or chit chat. We just needed to know if things were safe. The guys were very accommodating and thoughtful. They assured us that things were under control. There were a couple of stubs that had been struck by lightning and were smoldering. The helicopter water drops fixed things up where they didn't even have to sleep on the fire overnight. As soon as I was convinced of our (and my trucks!) safety, we thanked them for everything and said goodbye. The plan was back on.
Back in camp, the lake had calmed down. Large chunks of water plants were floating after being churned up by the helicopter, but otherwise you would never know it had been there just a short time before. Trout had started rising, so we made some casts for stocked rainbows and wild brook trout as the last bit of daylight glowed on the clouds to our east. Soon, we packed it in and went to bed early. The next day was going to be a big one...
