Having driven to Denver this morning to an ophthalmologist to get help for severe allergic conjunctivitis, I can’t stop thinking about how quickly this air pollution issue has gotten extreme. For three summers now Colorado and much of the west has been covered for 2-4 months with wildfire smoke. At 72 I’d never had allergies but 3 years ago they began and now the progression of symptoms has become so severe once the smoke starts that I have become house bound. Last year it sounded crazy to seriously consider temporarily relocating but after a few weeks of “house arrest” this summer we drove 800 miles east (to outrun the smoke) and stayed a month where we could see and breathe. Back less than two weeks now it’s worse than ever. We were leaving later this week for Idaho to visit grandkids but cancelled this morning because that state is again smack in the middle of the river of smoke from the North Cal fires.
Last summer Colorado experienced the three largest wildfires on record. We were run out of our high mountain summer campsite by smoke but I felt far worse for all the hunters who’d saved and planned for a special hunt in the fall but couldn’t go because of fire or fire damage. I can’t imagine how moose hunters felt who’d waited 20-30 years to draw a tag and then saw the area they drew burn.
I’ve spent plenty of time at the reloading bench as well as my tying bench this summer but I haven’t shot clays or trout fished once since the smoke arrived in June and I know it’s going to be another month or two before any outdoor activities are an option. My airtight motorcyclist sunglasses arrive tomorrow and my N95 will filter a lot of the smoke particulates so I’m not giving up.
While my greatest grief is for those who lose their homes and livelihoods in these wildfires, it seems clear to me now (even though I can’t actually see clearly right now) that the page has turned for us in the west and perhaps the whole country and participation in year round outdoor sports may not be the same again in our lifetimes.
