Old John and the Forest Fire (Part 6)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

(Psalm 121:1)

Part 6 of 8

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By about 8:30 in the morning, Jerry and his family had finished tying their packs shut, dumped water and dirt on their campfire to make sure it was out for good, and started the 2-day hike back to their car.

Around 10:00, they began to notice smoke blowing over the ridge to their left.  They were still in the valley hiking downstream, and there was very little breeze.  But, they could see that a wind was blowing the trees high up on the ridges around them.

By noon, the smoke had thickened and was filling more and more of the sky in the direction they had to hike in order to get back to their car – and home.  Shortly, Jerry came to the terrifying realization that he and his family were not likely to be able to get back to their car by the same trails on which they come just a week ago.  In fact, they had to make some serious decisions.  If they were going to get out, they were going to have to get rid of quite a few of their supplies.  They would have to lighten their loads in order to start a far more difficult hike north – up and over the ridge to their right.

Jerry and his son, John, put the bare essentials they would need into their two packs.  This would leave Annette and Sue free of the extra weight they had been carrying, making it easier to travel as quickly as possible.  Leaving what they would not be able to carry, the four of them left the trail and started north – up the mountainside and away from where the smoke seemed to be coming.

It was definitely slow going.  The underbrush was thick and course, and there were rocks and boulders scattered everywhere along the mountainside.  It was definitely not like hiking on the well-kept trail.  By about 4:00 in the afternoon they had reached the top of the ridge.  Beyond, they could see a rough, forested downslope and then, like a giant barrier sticking high up into the sky, Baldcrest.

But behind them, now they could see more than the smoke that was quickly filling the air with the thick smell of burnt timber and undergrowth – They could see the frightening flames that were already working their way up the backside of the next ridge behind them.  And a few ashes were beginning to fall around them like ugly black snowflakes.  It would not be long before the fire was raging down into the valley they had just fled, and up toward the ridge where they now stood.

They had become unwilling witnesses of a raging forest fire –up close and in a very personal way.  For a brief moment, they wondered if their car was even a car anymore – because, that's the direction the fire seemed to be coming from.  And this fire seemed to be bent on chasing them until it could catch them.  It extended all the way from the south around and out to the west of them, filling a good part of the horizon behind them with a horrifying mixture of grey-black smoke and red-orange flames.

[To be continued - jad - Part 7 on Nov. 4th in the pm]