August 9, 2026

Another scorcher. The Gold Mountain fire is firing up again in the Middle Fork. We are still praying for cooler weather and rain. So between the Gold Mtn Fire, the Elk Fire and the Widemouth Fire in Utah we are covered in smoke again. The northwest US is also on fire as are Idaho and Nevada. It has been the driest, hottest, smokiest summer I can remember. We headed again up P77. We saw a few does and fawns. It was a good evening. Nikon Z50 II and Panasonic G97

 August 7, 2026

Very hot all week. Tonight we headed up on P77. I’m trying a new video camcorder…Canon G70. It’s not going to stay. Focus, weight, etc are inferior to my Nikon Z50II. We saw a few deer and one elk. The Canon missed focus on it so I didn’t get an image. These are photos Joann took with the Panasonic G97

 August 1, 2026

We are in extreme heat again.  It's really never left since the middle of May.  We've had brief breaks here and there but for the most part it's been the driest and hottest summer I've ever seen around here.  It's too hot to even sit outside on the porch these days.  This evening we wanted a bit of an escape so we headed toward Kinikin and Bostwick.  Before we turned off the highway we decided to run up to the top of Cerro and just see if the sign was still up saying P77 was closed.  We were surprised to find that the sign was still there but it only said use caution as there was fire activity in the area.  So, for the first time since way back in June we got to do our P77 run.  Surprisingly, when we got where we could see the whole Big Cimarron, there was no visible smoke from the Gold Mountain Fire - yay!  We didn't see many animals - I assume because it was a very warm day and full moon.  We did see a few deer and even a bear.  He went across the road so fast all I could do was get a brief video.  Anyway, it was in the 60's up there when we left and still in the 80's here at home.  So it was a very good escape! Nikon Z50 II