Blast from the past

It has been nearly 20 years since Yellowstone National Park and surrounding forests suffered the big fires that remain in our memories. The federal government, particularly the National Park Service has revamped fire policies since then.

I hauled supplies to fire camps in Sunlight Basin and the Big Horns in 1988 and occasionally trucked stuff to Yellowstone. It was exciting, especially at night when the smoke was so thick I could barely see beyond the truck’s hood or when I stopped to watch a tree burst into flames.

I also remember all the cool people I met working out of the fire cache in Cody, both local and from across the country.

My first real taste of fire came when I witnessed the devastation at Old Faithful in Yellowstone — acre upon acre of burnt snags standing in charred ground like skinny tombstones placating the savage beast of fire. I was miffed. How could they let beautiful Yellowstone burn to the ground?

A change of heart came the very next summer when I was foot loose and fancy free working in the park. I was hiking a trail above Old Faithful and watched a humongous bull elk lumbering through the snags after feasting on the thick grass growing among the tottering snags. Yellowstone was rebounding right before my very eyes.

I always loved nature, but that was a pivotal point in my fascination with Yellowstone and the miles of park hiking to come in the next few years.

After living there for several years, Yellowstone holds fond memories. Hypothermia on Specimen Ridge, dehydration on windy Electric Peak and watching my first grizzly munch dandelions in a meadow. I hiked my butt off, visited beautiful places and met some swell people. Yellowstone is indeed a wondrous place.

With the anniversary of fires, I will strive in the next couple of months to recount the efforts of fire fighting 20 years ago and search out some locals that were there both in the park and the surrounding national forests.