First glimpse of our North Rim fire... the Aspen Fire.

Sunset somewhere between Idaho and Arizona!?!

At Angel's Point, North Rim, Grand Canyon.

Angel's Point.

Some classic American culture, Arizona.

Just got back from our second fourteen day roll!  Two glorious days off!  This last one was a bit crazy...  you never knew where you were...  it was hard to keep track of which state we were in let alone which fire we were working...  We started out with a small fire in Idaho, in an amazingly beautiful and steep ravine at the confluence of 3 creeks.  It was a stout 45 minute hike in just to the base of the fire with the hillsides rising 60 degrees on all sides.  Half the battle on that fire was simply not falling all the way down to the creek bed!  After we had lined the fire, helitack flew in some portable pumps and with the creeks down at the bottom we had an endless supply of water to mop it up quick!

After four quick days we were released.  On the way back to Cedar City we stopped by the Wildland Firefighters Memorial in Boise, which was very sobering.  We also stopped by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation headquarters nearby.  They collect money to help the families when firefighters are killed or injured on the job.  They were super happy to have us stop by.  In addition to all the good work they do, they also have an impressive collection of Hotshot Crew t-shirts from all over the country that was pretty cool to see.

Then, before we could get settled in we were assigned to a 300 acre lightning fire west of St. George, Utah.  That first night we were there was the most impressive lightning storm I think I've ever witnessed.  Over the course of two or three hours there must have been over a thousand downstrikes.  We finally had to head back to the trucks in a hurry when the storm got too close.  

We worked the Cedar Bench Complex as it was called for a few days and then got reassigned to the Aspen fire at the Grand Canyon.  This was our second time at the North Rim this season and I was happy because it has big trees and cool temperatures.  A few days in the desert was enough for me.  I think we were on day 7 or 8 at this point.  We spent the remainder of our tour at the Grand Canyon N.P. and the adjacent Kaibab N.F. working two different fires.  It was a cool assignment.  For a couple of days we were cutting huge snags (dead standing trees) within view of the canyon rim. 

We go back to work Tuesday and I have a feeling we'll be right back on the road.  Things are finally starting to heat up.