August 5: Valles Caldera

Las Conchas Wildfire Edition

Ten years ago, near the end of June, the Las Conchas wildfire started right across the highway from one of my all-time favorite trails. It grew incredibly quickly¹ and became the largest New Mexican wildfire ever, although that dubious record was broken the following year by another fire.

The fire was devastating; the entire state felt like a tinderbox that summer. Scientists said there were areas that had burned so hot that they wouldn’t regenerate for up to a hundred years. I desperately wanted to take photos but the entire area was closed for a couple of weeks. Finally, on July 9, Highway 4 opened and I drove up.

Valle Grande, July 9, 2011

A number of small fires were still smoldering, generating plenty of smoke. The hopscotch nature of wildfire was on full display, with some areas completely unscathed and others devastated beyond recognition.

While I didn’t remember the photo above exactly, I did remember taking photos from a certain spot on the edge of the caldera that year. I went back last week to see if I could take a few similar photos.

Cropped: Valle Grande, July 30, 2021

I came close enough, I think, although I had to crop the photos from both years to show their similarities.

Cropped: Valle Grande, July 9, 2011

The summer of 2021 has been exceptionally moist, much wetter than most. It’s been so incredibly delightful, and not just because of all the flowers.² This summer I have none of the feeling of dread I carried in 2011 — the idea that one false move could easily start an out-of-control conflagration.

Here’s the uncropped 2021 scene:

Valle Grande, July 30, 2021

I could never ever — even in my wildest dreams — have imagined I’d be seeing this just ten years later.³

1. Click here to see an outstanding photo taken from Valles Caldera just two hours after the fire began.

2. Have I mentioned the mushrooms yet?!? They merit their own email.

3. I wrote about the fire on my photoblog in both 2011 and 2015: 1) A photo showing some of the devastation near Valles Caldera is here. 2) The fire started just outside the meadow in this photo. 3) The scene across the highway from the previous photo. 4) A glimpse of Valles Caldera four years after the fire.