Getting Pseudo Clean and Cliff Creek Fire - July 17th, 2016

From the Pinedale area, we continued north to Granite Hot Springs. Before making the turn toward the hot springs, we witnessed a lightening storm that had started a forest fire. When we passed the origin on the hillside along the road only about two trees were on fire. Concerned, but hopeful that it would be contained quickly, we went up the road through Granite Creek Drainage to the hot springs. After three days without a shower, we used the hot springs as an opportunity to at least rinse off – it was marvelous. About an hour into our soak, we looked south to see that the smoke and red glow from the fire was taking up much of the horizon. Instead of camping in Granite Creek Drainage as we had originally planned, we decided to continue traveling north away from the quickly spreading fire. This proved a wise decision since the main highway into Jackson, WY was closed due to the fire just minutes after we passed through. The next day, Granite Creek Drainage was evacuated. As of August 4th the Cliff Creek Fire had spread to 31,169 acres and was 84% contained. If CASE Forensics gets hired for cause and origin determination, I’ll have this one covered.