Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Day #605

August 28, 2015

One more excellent adventure trip with our family – the Gates of the Mountains.

This is a beautiful limestone rock walled canyon on the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark came through this valley and, while it changes constantly due to nature’s movements, it has not been changed much by human’s movements. Although smoke still fills the air from all the wildfires, the scenery on our two-hour boat tour was breath-taking.

Perhaps the smoke in the air made the account of the Mann Gulch Fire (the area where it took place could be seen from our boat tour) all the more tangible. In 1949, 13 men lost their lives (most of them smoke-jumpers) in a horrendous wildfire. The lessons learned in that event led to new research and education for battling wildfires today.

Prayers are certainly with those who are battling blazes today, that all are safe and that soon all fires will be quenched!

Blessings.

PS For more on the Mann Gulch fire, a book was recommended by Norman MacLean, Young Men and Fire.

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