In the past ten days, I hitchhiked from northern California through eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, western Montana and then through eastern Idaho. Today I hitchhiked from Idaho Falls and ended up in Jackson, Wyoming. I was at my friends’ place in Jackson and noticed a copy of the Jackson Hole Daily newspaper in their kitchen. I read the first two paragraphs of this front page story and thought it was very prophetic:
Jackson Hole Daily
March 23, 2015
Fire is small, season is early
By Mark Huffman
“A brushfire Sunday was small enough to be called minor, but early enough in the season to be an ominous taste of what might be ahead.
“With Jackson Hole coming out of a warm and dry winter, the fire burned dead grass and seared sagebrush and leafless aspens at a construction site on NW Ridge Road, in the Skyline Ranch subdivision. During many winters the area would have been under snow, but it’s clear now.”