Wordless Wednesday: East Peak Fire

For the past week, my family has been focused on Southern Colorado. Why? Our family has been going to Wahatoya Canyon, in the Spanish Peaks, for the past 70+ years, through 5 generations. My great grandparents bought some land and built a log cabin. When they died, it was put in a trust to their descendents... or something like that.The East Peak Fire threatened to destroy a place we know and love.

Photo from an old postcard

The fire started June 19, at the Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch, located near the base of East Peak. It was caused by a lightning strike earlier in the week. Red flag conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly. Most of the area affected is part of the San Isabel National Forest. A lot of the county roads are not interconnected- the only road out is the same one you came in.
It's hard to judge the distance between where the fire started and our cabin because there are so many ridges and valleys between the peaks. We are closer to the West Peak (the red line below "Wahatoya Camp"),

The cabin in relation to the SPSR and the peaks:

Google Earth Image

As of last night, the fire is 55% contained and has burned more than 13,475 acres. This is an infrared image from yesterday afternoon. The beige line on the left is the county road our cabin is on. The red on the right is the fire line. At one point, the red fire line was much closer to the ridge behind our cabin. It's still really hard to judge the actual distance, but it has looked too close for comfort!

The firefighters have done an AMAZING job getting the fire under control so quickly! Words cannot express enough thanks to all that helped-- from the volunteers, to the Colorado National Guard, to law enforcement and the firefighters both on the ground and in the air-- everyone played a critical role in getting the East Peak Fire under containment! Since it is a "Wordless Wednesday" post, I will let some pictures do the talking...

Gram and Papa early 1950's

The cabin, August 1968

My great grandma and great grandpa

Great Grandpa, Gram, Great Grandma and Papa

I couldn't resist this one because my dad looks like Mayer on the far right!

A recent cabin picture

My uncle hiking with most of his great grandnieces and nephews.

There have been some incredible pictures take of the East Peak Fire, but I will only post a few my mom took. She and some friends were supposed to have their annual art retreat last weekend. They got to LaVeta and found out the road the cabin is on was put on mandatory evacuation. The Paper Ladies spent most of their time making thank you notes, passing them out to firefighters, handing out homemade cookies and donating supplies to the command center.

6/20/13: Highway 10, just outside Walsenburg

6/20/13: Main Street in LaVeta

6/23/13: As they were leaving, there was a flare up on the west side.

THANK YOU, Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C for your work and Twitter updates! Thank you, Huerfano Journal for reporting accurate information! And one final THANK YOU to everyone else involved!!