August 20th

Three pronghorn, a buck and two does, were roaming around just East of the barn this week, and six mule deer were spotted, as well. Four of the deer, including a fawn, were browsing in the canyon, and two bucks made their way up to the rim on the North side. The gayfeather and curlycup gumweed are blooming, and the Rocky Mountain beeplant continues to attract lots of insects. Most of the grasses have dried and cured in the sun, which a person can tell as much from the smell of the air as from the look of the prairie. The sage is also pretty fragrant right now, too, especially when the warm afternoon air is pushed around a bit by the wind. Pinyon jays are grouping together and flying around the trees, and a new baby rabbit was hopping around in the barn today.

August 13

Only three weeks after the fire, the view has already changed. Pine needles are now scattered across the black earth like a rust-colored net, and green leaves are sprouting even in the middle of August. Many of the new plants are more than three inches high, and are growing out of the middle of white ash rings left by burned sumac. Overall, the fire looks to have been a relatively healthy one, burning grasses and underbrush but less than half of the ponderosa cover. Many of the trees have burned sections but are still mostly green. The fire came up to the prairie dog town but did not burn through it, most likely because the clipped-short and green foliage in the town made a natural fire break. The miles of 'mouse highways' in the grass have been exposed and make a strange looking network of lighter-colored lines on the ground, and a neighbor reported seeing an elk running in the direction away from the fire on the 23rd. In all, about 700 acres burned, starting from West of the windmill and covering most of the plateau on the state section and most of the canyon further East.