At the entrance to the Taylor Highway, the road climbs up and over a long ridge. From here the view is one of a blackened landscape; a place where fire has left burnt remains of a spuce forest. The land was once a green cover, but the fire swept through with inferno speed, moving up draws, over ridges, and around hills with a flaming appetite. Still, some tracts of black spurce survived the maelstrom, and remained intact in their sanctuaries of chance. Elsewhere, the spindly remains of charcoalized spruce reveal the naked shapes of the hills and ravines. Such a sight had a terrifying reality for the creatures which once lived here. Even for me, the miles of burnt earth speaks of Nature's power to create and destroy, and pity to those humans who might find themselves trapped on all sides in a raging furnance of flame.
At the entrance to the Taylor Highway, the road climbs up and over a long ridge. From here the view is one of a blackened landscape; a place where fire has left burnt remains of a spuce forest. The land was once a green cover, but the fire swept through with inferno speed, moving up draws, over ridges, and around hills with a flaming appetite. Still, some tracts of black spurce survived the maelstrom, and remained intact in their sanctuaries of chance. Elsewhere, the spindly remains of charcoalized spruce reveal the naked shapes of the hills and ravines. Such a sight had a terrifying reality for the creatures which once lived here. Even for me, the miles of burnt earth speaks of Nature's power to create and destroy, and pity to those humans who might find themselves trapped on all sides in a raging furnance of flame.
No comments:
Post a Comment