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\u00a0 \u201cReady to head into the Village and hit the library again \u2013 this is becoming a good routine. I did laundry yesterday at Basecamp and fished while my clothes were in the machines. I also figured out how to get Wi-Fi with my laptop (the antennae switch was turned off), so it was a good day. Hopefully, I\u2019ll finish the lofts, workbench, desk and shelving in the shed today so I can start loading it with my material goods.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n -Journal entry: Wednesday; June 20, 2018: 9:18 am. In my camper, Cochise<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public libraries have long served as an oasis\nof comfort for the dispossessed, a shelter in the storm for those without\nhomes. The Red Feather Lakes Community Library serves that purpose to the\ncampers, trampers and other transient vagabonds, as well as the hearty residents\nof this magical mountain village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, it\u2019s where I can get the internet\n(24\/7 Wi-Fi that includes the parking lot), cell phone service (4G!) and enjoy\nthe modern amenities of a clean, well-lighted place – and plumbing fixtures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also the hub of the community, being\nopen 7 days a week (except major holidays) year-round. It caters to all ages,\nespecially kids. It has a large children\u2019s area inside (behind double glass\ndoors, so they can be seen and not heard) and an educational playground outside\nthat has hoof and paw prints in the sidewalk depicting the sign left by moose,\nbear, mountain lions and other indigenous critters so local youngsters begin to\nrealize how to recognize their unseen neighbors. Not a bad idea for the preservation\nof the herd \u2013 as in ours, the humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But even in magical mountain communities, bad\nthings can happen. And sometimes they do. At 6 am on Saturday, June 9, 2012, a\ncall came to a Rist Canyon volunteer firefighter regarding smoke sighted near\nan area known as Paradise Park, not far from Red Feather on the other side of\nthe Poudre River. He found a small, smoldering fire most likely started by\nlightning. Colorado was experiencing a bad drought season and there were\nalready several wildfires that had burned in the region, so the firefighter\ncalled for a full crew to respond and try to extinguish any problem before it\ngot out of hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly two decades of pine beetle infestation\nand destruction left a lot of dead standing timber, and the dry vegetation\nquickly traveled into the trees. By the time the crew arrived the fire had\nengaged the landscape and was heading through the canyon with lightning-borne\nspeed \u2013 estimated at 20-40 feet per minute. By mid-morning dozens of\nfirefighters, several helicopters and two air tankers were on the scene and\ninto battle, trying to defend structures and cut fire lines – but the flames\nwould not be deterred. Winds picked up and by noon a thick grey plume of smoke\nwas towering into the sky, filling the western horizon and blocking out the sun.\nIt appeared as though to many of us Armageddon had just begun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The smoldering fire had become an exploding conflagration,\nand Larimer County Sheriff\u2019s deputies raced flames to evacuate residents in the\nwinding mountain roads as power lines fell, communication relays failed and a\nlocal radio station went off the air. Evacuation orders go out, roads are\nclosed and larger firefighting agencies are brought in. Again, the flames are\nundeterred and escalate ferociously over the weekend. On Monday the fire is\nupgraded to Type 1 and management is turned over to the federal authorities. More\naircraft and hotshot crews are immediately called in, along with other regional\nresources, but the fire engulfs 37,000 acres now and is totally uncontained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Red Feather residents are eating the smoke\nbut watch from what was then a safe distance. They gather at the library,\nacross the dirt street from their own volunteer fire station, and wait for the\nlatest reports. The reports are not good. Structures are being lost despite\nheroic attempts by firefighters to defend them. Just too much dead timber, dry\ngrass and relentless wind sending walls of flames running up and down canyons\nand over mountains. It gets worse, and worse, for days on end. By Wednesday\nthere are a thousand firefighters and 22 aircraft battling the blaze and they\nare able to keep the edge heading toward Fort Collins contained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It looks and sounds like a battlefield as the\nheavy tankers rumble overhead, Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters pulling water\nout of Horsetooth and other reservoirs with flexible \u201cBambi Buckets\u201d hanging\nfrom a long cable, their heavy rotors chop-chop-chopping through the acrid,\nbrown air. Small, fixed wing aircraft dodge through the airspace, relaying\nvital information on the fire face\u2019s movements to the incident commander below.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Guard is called out and deployed\nto keep the roadblocks staffed, as nervous locals and nosy \u201clooky-loos\u201d clog\nthe few roads going into the war zone. More evacuation orders are issued and\nRed Feather Lakes Road (the only road from the lower region) is one way only,\ngoing down the mountain and jammed with evacuees and horse trailers. The\nVillage of Red Feather Lakes is virtually cut off from the world, with limited\ncommunication or power. Again, the community gathers at the library, eager for\nnews of the fire\u2019s strength and direction. The news isn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, the neighboring subdivision of\nGlacier View begins mandatory evacuation after a spot fire jumps the Poudre\nRiver and begins racing up the canyons and mountains toward the Village. Nearly\n50 homes in its path are quickly consumed. Governor John Hickenlooper issues a\nstate-wide ban on all open fires and fireworks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mishawaka Amphitheatre (aka \u201cThe Mish\u201d) is\nlocated on the Poudre and known to CSU students, locals and visiting explorers as\nan amazing musical venue to catch an indoor\/outdoor show, as well as a legendary\neatery for grabbing a beer and burger during the day and watching the rafters\nand kayakers run the rapids from the back patio – which extends over the water.\nIts large timber structure would go quickly in the flames. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, or perhaps willfully,\nfirefighters use it as a base of operations and position engines and other\nequipment in its parking lots and surrounding flat areas, drawing water from\nthe Poudre and keeping the flames at bay. You gotta love those firefighters,\nand those of us who live in the mountains do so with all we have that we hold\ndear \u2013 because that\u2019s what they risk their lives to protect, bivouacking in\nspike camps and working to exhaustion in unimaginable conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I went through Wildland Firefighter classes given\nby the Larimer County Sherriff\u2019s Office back in the late 1980s and passed after\ncompleting the challenging coursework and physical test of running 1 \u00bd miles in\nNomex fireproof clothing, work boots and gloves within 12 minutes, which would\nbe sufficient to get you out of trouble in most cases. I received my\ncertification card (then pink, now red) and I was a \u201cYellow Jacket\u201d (which\nreferred to the yellow Nomex shirt). A Hotshot. We watched film (video?)\nfootage of firefighters racing to save the iconic Yellowstone Lodge in that\nhistorical fire of 1988, flames leaping all around them and overhead, creating\na canopy of whip cracking flames. It was an inferno. But the firefighters were\nsuccessful, and I visited the lodge several years later. It is a marvel, and\nwould be near-impossible to replace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You really do gotta love firefighters. They\nput their lives in the hands of a greater power deliberately, and don\u2019t always make\nit out. In 1994, the Storm King fire\noutside of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, caught 14 Yellow Jackets in a saddle\n(low spot between hills) and overran them, not quite quickly enough. They\ndeployed their emergency shelter blankets, standing on one end to hold it in\nplace before dropping quickly to their knees and falling forward, pulling it\noverhead and tight, then scratching a hole in the dirt to breath out of; but\nthe aluminized cloth elastic-rimmed wraps are meant to protect you if a fire\nflashes over you in a matter of seconds. This fire lingered, and they all\nperished when their oxygen ran out and heat overtook them. I cried when I first\nheard that, and if the truth be known, I have tears in my eyes as I write this.\nRest In Peace, brave Yellow Jackets, and may you spend your eternity in cool\nbreezes and fresh air. I mean that with all my heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the fire was finally 100 per-cent\ncontained on June 30th<\/sup>, three weeks after it started, it had burned\nover 87,000 acres (more than 136 square miles), destroying at least 259 homes\nand killing a 62-year-old woman who was not able to escape quickly enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time it was the most destructive fire\nin Colorado\u2019s history based on structures lost, and the second largest in terms\nof area burned. That unwanted distinction was short-lived, however, when the\nWaldo Canyon Fire outside of Colorado Springs, which started one week before\nthe High Park Fire was contained, consumed 346 homes. The following summer, the\nBlack Forest Fire, also outside of Colorado Springs, became the most\ndestructive fire in state history when it destroyed 488 homes, leaving 37 more\npartially damaged and killing two people, a husband and wife in their early 50s\nwhose bodies were found in what had been their garage, next to their car whose\ndoors were open and trunk packed with belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lightning was quickly ruled out as the cause\nof the Black Forest Fire, and it was eventually determined to have come from a\nhomeowner who was doing some remodeling and burning scrap wood in a fireplace\nand woodstove. There were no spark arrestors on the chimney flues. The\ntemperature was 97 degrees, the vegetation was tinder-dry, and winds were\nblowing at 37 mph. Lightning is completely unmanageable by nature. The\nstupidity and carelessness of our fellow human beings can be equally\nunimaginable, by default. But, I digress… Arrrgggghhhhh!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the Village, which had been spared\nthe flames by a matter of miles. The roads re-opened, power and communication\nlines were re-strung, and things finished out in 2012 without further incident.\nA sense of normalcy returned. But danger came with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As is all too often the case in the West,\nflash floods follow wildfires. Mountainsides and canyonlands are denuded of\nsoil holding trees and vegetation. Fire burns moisture and nutrients out of the\nearth surface, turning it to nasty ash which quickly turns to a deadly mudslide\nin the event of heavy rainfall. The residents of the area and Larimer County\nofficials knew this and prepared aggressively by upgrading culverts to larger,\nconcrete structures designed to not clog up with debris. Other flood mitigation\nprecautions were implemented and everyone kept their fingers crossed that we\nwouldn\u2019t end the drought too severely, but Mother Nature can have a wicked\nsense of humor. You gotta be fearful of Mother Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In September of the following year, 2013, she\nlet loose with 15\u201d of rain in a matter of days all along the Front Range of the\nRockies, which is equal to the average annual precipitation for the state\n(including snow). The areas west of Colorado Springs suffered worst of all,\nfollowing the two monster wildfires of the previous summers. Cars were\nliterally floating away in rivers of ash and mud on the streets of Manitou\nSprings and throughout the canyons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Larimer County fared better, largely due to the\npreparations that had been undertaken, but power and communication lines again\nwere wiped out, and Buckhorn Canyon Road, one of the primary roads used by\nfirefighters assaulting the High Park Fire, was in many places completely\nwashed away. I\u2019ve fished the Buckhorn Creek for over thirty years, and normally\nin September there isn\u2019t enough water to hold the little brookies who thrive\nthere in the springtime flow of the snowmelt runoff. Most often the creek is\nnarrow enough to jump across without splashing water and spooking the fish \u2013\nunless your dog decides it\u2019s a good spot to take a soak. You gotta love those\ndogs. But, again… <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, Mother Nature reminded us all who\u2019s boss,\nand once more the Village was largely cut-off from the rest of the world.\nLiving in the mountains can be often insecure. The rest of the time, which is\nby far most of the time, it\u2019s like no other place imaginable. Almost a\ndifferent world. The risk of nature\u2019s wrath is a matter of choice \u2013 and\npreparedness. So, the inhabitants of the area chose to prepare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The residents of the three communities who\nlive along and are dependent upon County Road 74E (Red Feather Lakes Road) are:\nGlacier View (badly damaged by the fire), Crystal Lakes (where I live in this\ncamper with my dog during the summer), and \u2013 of course \u2013 the Village of Red\nFeather Lakes, where we all gather to bond and sing silly little mountain tunes\n(alright, we don\u2019t really sing, but anyway). Each community has its own\nvolunteer fire department and a jurisdictional district of service. Since there\nis no legal, municipal structure to any of these communities (which is why most\nof us live there) everything is done by choice and voluntary contribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, a majority of the local denizens\nrealize that it\u2019s in their vested interest to protect their livelihood,\nproperty and hard-sought or easily-inherited little slice of mountain paradise.\nThe others, a minority, seldom come out of the woods and rarely bathe, shunning\nsociety and hunting various rodents with their putrid breath (alright, I\u2019m\nbeing a little silly now. I get that way when I feel I might actually wrap up\nanother one of these blog post thingies).<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the point, the North 40 Mountain Alliance\nwas formed as a non-profit cooperative of volunteers from the aforementioned\nthree communities and fire districts. It\u2019s mission, as stated on its website,\nbegins: \u201cThe North 40 Mountain\nAlliance (N40MA) is a local group dedicated to being prepared for and resilient\nin case of wildfire and other emergencies.\u201d They utilize the fire district\u2019s\ncommunication and information gathering systems, amateur radio emergency\nservices, assigned Neighborhood Captains using phone tree networks and other\nresources to coordinate with the Incident Commanders of the firefighting\nagencies along with local, state and national emergency service providers\n(including FEMA and the Red Cross). Their primary purpose is to provide the\nmost accurate and up-to-the-minute information (because disaster evacuation is\na matter of minutes) when danger strikes, and they help rebuild the communities\nin the aftermath. It\u2019s a great thing to have. Takes a little uncertainty out of\nliving in the mountains. Let\u2019s you focus on other things. Like fishing. And\nsinging silly little mountain tunes while bonding with your neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there needs to be a place where\nfolks can go for this vital, potentially life-saving information, and it can\u2019t\nbe the fire station. Firefighters don\u2019t need hundreds of people huddled around\nthe building blocking the exit routes and asking questions when disaster\nstrikes – and they\u2019re going to be blasting out of there anyway. Let\u2019s don\u2019t\nforget, they\u2019re the ones who run into the fire danger when the rest of us are\nrunning away from it. That\u2019s what they do. And in this case, voluntarily.\nPlease keep that in mind if you ever meet a firefighter, or if you know one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, each fire district designated a place for\nits residents to go, called Community Hubs. Guess where the hub is in Red\nFeather? I\u2019ll give you a hint: It\u2019s the library. Where else would it be? That\nwas a silly question, but…well, you know… <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why am I going on with all this stuff about\nthe Red Feather Lakes Community Library? That\u2019s a good question. The answer is,\nI just really like libraries, for one thing, and I love my new community of\nmountain folk in and around the Village. You appreciate your neighbors much\nmore when you\u2019re dependent upon them in the event of emergencies, which is the\ncase in rural and mountain areas. It\u2019s also a big part of the appeal, to me\nanyway, in actually having an opportunity and need to interact with others of\nthe herd \u2013 our herd, the humans \u2013 instead of staring at some silly little electronic\ndevice exchanging \u201cselfies\u201d, images of food or sharing other people\u2019s posts\n(but that\u2019s just because I\u2019m an old phart and didn\u2019t grow up that way,\notherwise I\u2019m sure that I\u2019d be doing it all the time. Well, maybe…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, yes I think we\u2019re coming to a\nclose here, there\u2019s one last bit of news in case you\u2019re wondering how all this\ninformation gets transmitted and the library is able to function during an\nemergency situation when power lines are often the first to go in a fire or\nflood (and sometimes the cause of the fire in high wind situations). Well,\nyou\u2019ll be happy to know that the Red Feather Lakes Community Library was\nrecently awarded a $100K grant to install photovoltaic solar panels so the\nCommunity Hub can function off-grid during such power outages. Gotta love those\ncommunity supporting grants, and the great work that can be achieved with the\nfunds. Please keep that in mind if you ever meet someone who works for\nnon-profits and foundations, or if you know one. They\u2019re like firefighters that\nway. Deserving of our gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I\u2019ll leave it at that. I don\u2019t want to\nget preachy because I\u2019m no one to preach. I\u2019m just a humble storyteller, and I\nhaven\u2019t eaten yet today. I\u2019m feeling a little dizzy and lightheaded. Reminds me\nof the 70s kind of…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for your patience if you\u2019re still\nhere, and I hope you got something from all this. Let me know what you think if\nyou feel so inclined. I seldom get to communicate with my fellow herd members because\nI live with a dog in a camper in places where I don\u2019t know anyone, until I\u2019ve\nbeen there a while. Then I move, because after a while it\u2019s either getting too\nhot or too cold. Again, I\u2019m an old phart. But, that\u2019s the life of a rubber\ntramp and \u2013 just between you and me, dear reader \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t have it any other\nway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u201cReady to head into the Village and hit the library again \u2013 this is becoming a good routine. I did laundry yesterday at Basecamp and fished while my clothes were in the machines. I also figured out how to get Wi-Fi with my laptop (the antennae switch was turned off), so it was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[109,107,111,104,108,86,85],"class_list":["post-1392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rocky-mountain-rubber-tramp","tag-flash-flood","tag-high-park-fire","tag-hotshot-firefighters","tag-larimer-county-colorado","tag-red-feather-community-library","tag-rocky-mountains","tag-rubber-tramp"],"yoast_head":"\n