Smoky layers and dead trees

 

The weather was great for us in Colorado, up until the day before the big snow storm. The wind shifted then and we were subjected to a day filled with smoke from Colorado's fires (and maybe even some from California?). Fortunately the storm blew most of that away, but not all of it. On two hikes we took post-storm the scenery was nice, but definitely impacted by the fires still burning. Above is a view out west from the Divide; on a clear day, you can see all the way to the San Juans on the western border of Colorado, but not today.

However, I was somewhat entranced by the hazy prospects. There's something lovely, in a mysterious kind of way, with the layers of mountains receding into the distance. Here are some more of the many photos I snapped of this phenomenon...

another look west, at Tomichi Dome in the middle distance...

...and a view east: Mt. Taylor close enough to show up well...

...and looking south toward Ouray and Chipeta

Unfortunately, some of the closer-at-hand scenery wasn't as pretty. The damage done by various species of beetles—damage I've documented for you before—is definitely getting worse. Here's an example, framing some more layers...

...and here's some more...

someone's old nest is exposed here

Some more shocking evidence of this problem was visible in the immediate neighborhood of the Monarch Crest gift shop, at the beginning of one of our favorite trails...

nothing you can do but take them down

Right at the east end of the parking lot it's stunningly bad:

The carnage was all around us, at least during portions of our hikes...

There was plenty of positives from our hikes, though, and I'll show you some of that side of things next time.