FIRESCAPES

Firescapes

 

In 2020, Colorado experienced its two largest forest fires on record:  the Cameron Peak Fire and the East Troublesome Fire.  Together they consumed 401,223 acres, stretching from east of Walden to Loveland, Colorado, a distance of nearly 100 miles.  Fire is a growing climate concern in Colorado and I have taken a photographic interest in these areas, both because of the devastation inflicted through the region, as well as the fire’s reclamation and rejuvenation of the land as nature intended.

 

The above stitched panorama was taken at the beginning, two days into the fire that started in mid-August near Walden, west of Estes Park. The image was taken on the Ridge Trail above the Alpine Visitor Center on Trail Ridge Road.  This is the initial smoke plume of the Cameron Peak Fire, two months prior to the beginning of the East Troublesome Fire that would begin further to the south (left).