A FOREST FIRE ON THE GRAND RIVER A FOREST FIRE ON THE GRAND RIVER
This revolution in plans was brought about by the view from amid the broken granite10 on the summit of Long's Peak. Far below and far away the magnificent mountain distances reposed11 in the autumn sunshine. The dark crags, snowy summits, light-tipped peaks, bright lakes, purple forests traced with silver streams and groves12 of aspen,—all fused and faded away in the golden haze13. But these splendid scenes were being blurred14 and blotted15 out by the smoke of a dozen or more forest fires.
Little realizing that for six weeks I was to hesitate on fire-threatened heights and hurry through smoke-filled forests, I took a good look at the destruction from afar and then hastened toward the nearest fire-front. This was a smoke-clouded blaze on the Rabbit-Ear Range that was storming its way eastward16. In a few hours it would travel to the Grand River, which [Pg 141] flowed southward through a straight, mountain-walled valley that was about half a mile wide. Along the river, occupying about half the width of the valley, was a picturesque17 grassy18 avenue that stretched for miles between ragged19 forest-edges.
There was but little wind and, hoping to see the big game that the flames might drive into the open, I innocently took my stand in the centre of the grassy stretch directly before the fire. This great smoky fire-billow, as I viewed it from the heights while I was descending20, was advancing with a formidable crooked21 front about three miles across. The left wing was more than a mile in advance of the active though lagging right one. As I afterward22 learned, the difference in speed of the two wings was caused chiefly by topography; the forest conditions were similar, but the left wing had for some time been burning up a slope while the right had traveled down one. Fire burns swiftly up a slope, but slowly down it. Set fire simultaneously23 to the top and the bottom of a forest on a steep slope and the blaze at the bottom will[Pg 142] overrun at least nine-tenths of the area. Flame and the drafts that it creates sweep upward.
Upon a huge lava24 boulder25 in the grassy stretch I commanded a view of more than a mile of the forest-edge and was close to where a game trail came into it out of the fiery woods. On this burning forest-border a picturesque, unplanned wild-animal parade passed before me.
Scattered26 flakes27 of ashes were falling when a herd28 of elk29 led the exodus30 of wild folk from the fire-doomed forest. They came stringing out of the woods into the open, with both old and young going forward without confusion and as though headed for a definite place or pasture. They splashed through a beaver31 pond without stopping and continued their way up the river. There was no show of fear, no suggestion of retreat. They never looked back. Deer straggled out singly and in groups. It was plain that all were fleeing from danger, all were excitedly trying to get out of the way of something; and they did not appear to know where they were going. Apparently32 they gave more troubled attention to the roaring, the breath, and the[Pg 143] movements of that fiery, mysterious monster than to the seeking of a place of permanent safety. In the grassy open, into which the smoke was beginning to drift and hang, the deer scattered and lingered. At each roar of the fire they turned hither and thither33 excitedly to look and listen. A flock of mountain sheep, in a long, narrow, closely pressed rank and led by an alert, aggressive bighorn, presented a fine appearance as it raced into the open. The admirable directness of these wild animals put them out of the category occupied by tame, "silly sheep." Without slackening pace they swept across the grassy valley in a straight line and vanished in the wooded slope beyond. Now and then a coyote appeared from somewhere and stopped for a time in the open among the deer; all these wise little wolves were a trifle nervous, but each had himself well in hand. Glimpses were had of two stealthy mountain lions, now leaping, now creeping, now swiftly fleeing.
Bears were the most matter-of-fact fellows in the exodus. Each loitered in the grass and[Pg 144] occasionally looked toward the oncoming danger. Their actions showed curiosity and anger, but not alarm. Each duly took notice of the surrounding animals, and one old grizzly34 even struck viciously at a snarling35 coyote. Two black bear cubs36, true to their nature, had a merry romp37. Even these serious conditions could not make them solemn. Each tried to prevent the other from climbing a tree that stood alone in the open; around this tree they clinched38, cuffed39, and rolled about so merrily that the frightened wild folks were attracted and momentarily forgot their fears. The only birds seen were some grouse41 that whirred and sailed by on swift, definite wings; they were going somewhere.
With subdued42 and ever-varying roar the fire steadily43 advanced. It constantly threw off an upcurling, unbroken cloud of heavy smoke that hid the flames from view. Now and then a whirl of wind brought a shower of sparks together with bits of burning bark out over the open valley.
Just as the flames were reaching the margin44[Pg 145] of the forest a great bank of black smoke curled forward and then appeared to fall into the grassy open. I had just a glimpse of a few fleeing animals, then all became hot, fiery, and dark. Red flames darted46 through swirling47 black smoke. It was stifling48. Leaping into a beaver pond, I lowered my own sizzling temperature and that of my smoking clothes. The air was too hot and black for breathing; so I fled, floundering through the water, down Grand River.
A quarter of a mile took me beyond danger-line and gave me fresh air. Here the smoke ceased to settle to the earth, but extended in a light upcurling stratum49 a few yards above it. Through this smoke the sunlight came so changed that everything around was magically covered with a canvas of sepia or rich golden brown. I touched the burned spots on hands and face with real, though raw, balsam and then plunged51 into the burned-over district to explore the extensive ruins of the fire.
A prairie fire commonly consumes everything to the earth-line and leaves behind it only a black field. Rarely does a forest fire make so[Pg 146] clean a sweep; generally it burns away the smaller limbs and the foliage52, leaving the tree standing53 all blackened and bristling54. This fire, like thousands of others, consumed the litter carpet on the forest floor and the mossy covering of the rocks; it ate the underbrush, devoured55 the foliage, charred56 and burned the limbs, and blackened the trunks. Behind was a dead forest in a desolate57 field, a territory with millions of bristling, mutilated trees, a forest ruin impressively picturesque and pathetic. From a commanding ridge58 I surveyed this ashen59 desert and its multitude of upright figures all blurred and lifeless; these stood everywhere,—in the gulches60, on the slopes, on the ridges62 against the sky,—and they bristled63 in every vanishing distance. Over the entire area only a few trees escaped with their lives; these were isolated64 in soggy glacier66 meadows or among rock fields and probably were defended by friendly air-currents when the fiery billow rolled over them.
When I entered the burn that afternoon the fallen trees that the fire had found were in ashes, the trees just killed were smoking, while the[Pg 147] standing dead trees were just beginning to burn freely. That night these scattered beacons67 strangely burned among the multitudinous dead. Close to my camp all through that night several of these fire columns showered sparks like a fountain, glowed and occasionally lighted up the scene with flaming torches. Weird68 and strange in the night were the groups of silhouetted69 figures in a shadow-dance between me and the flickering70, heroic torches.
The greater part of the area burned over consisted of mountain-slopes and ridges that lay between the altitudes of nine thousand and eleven thousand feet. The forest was made up almost entirely71 of Engelmann and Douglas spruces, alpine fir, and flexilis pine. A majority of these trees were from fifteen to twenty-four inches in diameter, and those examined were two hundred and fourteen years of age. Over the greater extent of the burn the trees were tall and crowded, about two thousand to the acre. As the fire swept over about eighteen thousand acres, the number of trees that perished must have approximated thirty-six million.[Pg 148]
Fires make the Rocky Mountains still more rocky. This bald fact stuck out all through this burn and in dozens of others afterward visited. Most Rocky Mountain fires not only skin off the humus but so cut up the fleshy soil and so completely destroy the fibrous bindings that the elements quickly drag much of it from the bones and fling it down into the stream-channels. Down many summit slopes in these mountains, where the fires went to bed-rock, the snows and waters still scoot and scour73. The fire damage to some of these steep slopes cannot be repaired for generations and even centuries. Meantime these disfigured places will support only a scattered growth of trees and sustain only a sparse74 population of animals.
In wandering about I found that the average thickness of humus—decayed vegetable matter—consumed by this fire was about five inches. The removal of even these few inches of covering had in many places exposed boulders75 and bed-rock. On many shallow-covered steeps the soil-anchoring roots were consumed and the productive heritage of ages was left to[Pg 149] be the early victim of eager running water and insatiable gravity.
Probably the part of this burn that was most completely devastated76 was a tract40 of four or five hundred acres in a zone a little below timber-line. Here stood a heavy forest on solid rock in thirty-two inches of humus. The tree-roots burned with the humus, and down crashed the trees into the flames. The work of a thousand years was undone77 in a day!
The loss of animal life in this fire probably was not heavy; in five or six days of exploring I came upon fewer than three dozen fire victims of all kinds. Among the dead were groundhogs, bobcats, snowshoe rabbits, and a few grouse. Flying about the waste were crested78 jays, gray jays ("camp birds"), and magpies79. Coyotes came early to search for the feast prepared by the fire.
During the second day's exploration on the burn, a grizzly bear and I came upon two roasted deer in the end of a gulch61. I was first to arrive, so Mr. Grizzly remained at what may have been a respectful distance, restlessly watching me.[Pg 150] With his nearness and impolite stare I found it very embarrassing to eat alone. However, two days of fasting had prepared me for this primitive80 feast; and, knowing that bears were better than their reputation, I kept him waiting until I was served. On arising to go, I said, "Come, you may have the remainder; there is plenty of it."
The fire was followed by clear weather, and for days the light ash lay deep and undisturbed over the burn. One morning conditions changed and after a few preliminary whirlwinds a gusty81 gale82 set in. In a few minutes I felt and appeared as though just from an ash-barrel. The ashen dust-storm was blinding and choking, and I fled for the unburned heights. So blinding was the flying ash that I was unable to see; and, to make matters worse, the trees with fire-weakened foundations and limbs almost severed83 by flames commenced falling. The limbs were flung about in a perfectly84 reckless manner, while the falling trees took a fiendish delight in crashing down alongside me at the very moment that the storm was most blinding. Being without nerves and[Pg 151] incidentally almost choked, I ignored the falling bodies and kept going.
Several times I rushed blindly against limb-points and was rudely thrust aside; and finally I came near walking off into space from the edge of a crag. After this I sought temporary refuge to the leeward85 of a boulder, with the hope that the weakened trees would speedily fall and end the danger from that source. The ash flew thicker than ever did gale-blown desert dust; it was impossible to see and so nearly impossible to breathe that I was quickly driven forth86. I have been in many dangers, but this is the only instance in which I was ever irritated by Nature's blind forces. At last I made my escape from them.
From clear though wind-swept heights I long watched the burned area surrender its slowly accumulated, rich store of plant-food to the insatiable and all-sweeping wind. By morning, when the wind abated87, the garnered88 fertility and phosphates of generations were gone, and the sun cast the shadows of millions of leafless trees upon rock bones and barren earth. And the waters were still to take their toll89.[Pg 152]
Of course Nature would at once commence to repair and would again upbuild upon the foundations left by the fire; such, however, were the climatic and geological conditions that improving changes would come but slowly. In a century only a good beginning could be made. For years the greater portion of the burn would be uninhabitable by bird or beast; those driven forth by this fire would seek home and food in the neighboring territory, where this influx90 of population would compel interesting readjustments and create bitter strife91 between the old wild-folk population and the new.
This fire originated from a camp-fire which a hunting-party had left burning; it lived three weeks and extended eastward from the starting-place. Along most of its course it burned to the timber-line on the left, while rocky ridges, glacier meadows, and rock fields stopped its extension and determined92 the side line on the right; it ran out of the forest and stopped in the grassy Grand River Valley. Across its course were a number of rocky ridges and grassy gorges93 where the fire could have been easily[Pg 153] stopped by removing the scattered trees,—by burning the frail94 bridges that enabled the fire to travel from one dense95 forest to abundant fuel beyond. In a city it is common to smother96 a fire with water or acid, but with a forest fire usually it is best to break its inflammable line of communication by removing from before it a width of fibrous material. The axe97, rake, hoe, and shovel98 are the usual fire-fighting tools.
A few yards away from the spot where the fire started I found, freshly cut in the bark of an aspen, the inscription:—
J S M
Yale 18
A bullet had obliterated99 the two right-hand figures.
For days I wandered over the mountains, going from fire to smoke and studying burns new and old. One comparatively level tract had been fireswept in 1791. On this the soil was good. Lodge-pole pine had promptly100 restocked the burn, but these trees were now being smothered101 out by a promising102 growth of Engelmann spruce.[Pg 154]
A YELLOW PINE, FORTY-SEVEN YEARS AFTER IT HAD BEEN KILLED BY FIRE A YELLOW PINE, FORTY-SEVEN YEARS AFTER IT HAD BEEN KILLED BY FIRE
Fifty-seven years before my visit a fire had burned over about four thousand acres and was brought to a stand by a lake, a rocky ridge, and a wide fire-line that a snowslide had cleared through the woods. The surface of the burn was coarse, disintegrated103 granite and sloped toward the west, where it was exposed to prevailing104 high westerly winds. A few kinnikinnick rugs apparently were the only green things upon the surface, and only a close examination revealed a few stunted105 trees starting. It was almost barren. Erosion was still active; there were no roots to bind72 the finer particles together or to anchor them in place. One of the most striking features of the entire burn was that the trees killed by the fire fifty-seven years ago were standing where they died. They had excellent root-anchorage in the shattered surface, and many of them probably would remain erect106 for years. The fire that killed them had been a hot one, and it had burned away most of the limbs, and had so thoroughly107 boiled the pitch through the exterior108 of the trunk that the wood was in an excellent state of preservation109.
[Pg 155]
Another old burn visited was a small one in an Engelmann spruce forest on a moderate northern slope. It had been stopped while burning in very inflammable timber. It is probable that on this occasion either a rain or snow had saved the surrounding forest. The regrowth had slowly extended from the margin of the forest to the centre of the burn until it was restocked.
One morning I noticed two small fires a few miles down the mountain and went to examine them. Both were two days old, and both had started from unextinguished camp-fires. One had burned over about an acre and the other about four times that area. If the smaller had not been built against an old snag it probably would have gone out within a few hours after the congressman110 who built it moved camp. It was wind-sheltered and the blaze had traveled slowly in all directions and burned a ragged circle that was about sixty feet across.
The outline of the other blaze was that of a flattened111 ellipse, like the orbit of many a wandering comet in the sky. This had gone before the wind, and the windward end of its orbit closely[Pg 156] encircled the place of origin. The camp-fire nucleus112 of this blaze had also been built in the wrong place,—against a fallen log which lay in a deep bed of decaying needles.
Of course each departing camper should put out his camp-fire. However, a camp-fire built on a humus-covered forest floor, or by a log, or against a dead tree, is one that is very difficult to extinguish. With the best of intentions one may deluge113 such a fire with water without destroying its potency114. A fire thus secreted115 appears, like a lie, to have a spark of immortality116 in it.
A fire should not be built in contact with substances that will burn, for such fuel will prolong the fire's life and may lead it far into the forest. There is but little danger to the forest from a fire that is built upon rock, earth, sand, or gravel117. A fire so built is isolated and it usually dies an early natural death. Such a fire—one built in a safe and sane118 place—is easily extinguished.
The larger of these two incipient119 fires was burning quietly, and that night I camped within[Pg 157] its orbit. Toward morning the wind began to blow, this slow-burning surface fire began to leap, and before long it was a crown fire, traveling rapidly among the tree-tops. It swiftly expanded into an enormous delta120 of flame. At noon I looked back and down upon it from a mountain-top, and it had advanced about three miles into a primeval forest sea, giving off more smoke than a volcano.
I went a day's journey and met a big fire that was coming aggressively forward against the wind. It was burning a crowded, stunted growth of forest that stood in a deep litter carpet. The smoke, which flowed freely from it, was distinctly ashen green; this expanded and maintained in the sky a smoky sheet that was several miles in length.
Before the fire lay a square mile or so of old burn which was covered with a crowded growth of lodge-pole pine that stood in a deep, criss-crossed entanglement121 of fallen fire-killed timber. A thousand or more of these long, broken dead trees covered each acre with wreckage122, and in this stood upward of five thousand live young[Pg 158] ones. This would make an intensely hot and flame-writhing fire. It appears that a veteran spruce forest had occupied this burn prior to the fire. The fire had occurred fifty-seven years before. Trees old and young testified to the date. In the margin of the living forest on the edge of the burn were numerous trees that were fire-scarred fifty-seven years before; the regrowth on the burn was an even-aged fifty-six-year growth.
That night, as the fire neared the young tree growth, I scaled a rock ledge123 to watch it. Before me, and between the fire and the rocks, stood several veteran lodge-pole pines in a mass of dead-and-down timber. Each of these trees had an outline like that of a plump Lombardy poplar. They perished in the most spectacular manner. Blazing, wind-blown bark set fire to the fallen timber around their feet; this fire, together with the close, oncoming fire-front, so heated the needles on the lodge-poles that they gave off a smoky gas; this was issuing from every top when a rippling124 rill of purplish flame ran up one of the trunks. Instantly there was a flash[Pg 159] and white flames flared125 upward more than one hundred feet, stood gushing126 for a few seconds, and then went out completely. The other trees in close succession followed and flashed up like giant geysers discharging flame. This discharge was brief, but it was followed by every needle on the trees glowing and changing to white incandescence127, then vanishing. In a minute these leafless lodge-poles were black and dead.
The fire-front struck and crossed the lodge-pole thicket128 in a flash; each tree flared up like a fountain of gas and in a moment a deep, ragged-edged lake of flame heaved high into the dark, indifferent night. A general fire of the dead-and-down timber followed, and the smelter heat of this cut the green trees down, the flames widely, splendidly illuminating129 the surrounding mountains and changing a cloud-filled sky to convulsed, burning lava.
Not a tree was left standing, and every log went to ashes. The burn was as completely cleared as a fireswept prairie; in places there were holes in the earth where tree-roots had burned out. This burn was an ideal place for[Pg 160] another lodge-pole growth, and three years later these pines were growing thereon as thick as wheat in a field. In a boggy130 area within the burn an acre or two of aspen sprang up; this area, however, was much smaller than the one that the fire removed from the bog131. Aspens commonly hold territory and extend their holdings by sprouting132 from roots; but over the greater portion of the bog the fire had either baked or burned the roots, and this small aspen area marked the wetter part of the bog, that in which the roots had survived.
After destroying the lodge-pole growth the fire passed on, and the following day it burned away as a quiet surface fire through a forest of scattered trees. It crept slowly forward, with a yellow blaze only a few inches high. Here and there this reddened over a pile of cone-scales that had been left by a squirrel, or blazed up in a pile of broken limbs or a fallen tree-top; it consumed the litter mulch and fertility of the forest floor, but seriously burned only a few trees.
Advancing along the blaze, I came upon a veteran yellow pine that had received a large[Pg 161] pot-hole burn in its instep. As the Western yellow pine is the best fire-fighter in the conifer family, it was puzzling to account for this deep burn. On the Rocky Mountains are to be found many picturesque yellow pines that have a dozen times triumphed over the greatest enemy of the forest. Once past youth, these trees possess a thick, corky, asbestos-like bark that defies the average fire. Close to this injured old fellow was a rock ledge that formed an influential133 part of its environment; its sloping surface shed water and fertility upon its feet; cones134, twigs135, and trash had also slid down this and formed an inflammable pile which, in burning, had bored into its ankle. An examination of its annual rings in the burned hole revealed the fact that it too had been slightly burned fifty-seven years before. How long would it be until it was again injured by fire or until some one again read its records?
Until recently a forest fire continued until stopped by rain or snow, or until it came to the edge of the forest. I have notes on a forest fire that lived a fluctuating life of four months. Once[Pg 162] a fire invades an old forest, it is impossible speedily to get rid of it. "It never goes out," declared an old trapper. The fire will crawl into a slow-burning log, burrow136 down into a root, or eat its way beneath a bed of needles, and give off no sign of its presence. In places such as these it will hibernate137 for weeks, despite rain or snow, and finally some day come forth as ferocious138 as ever.
About twenty-four hours after the lodge-pole blaze a snow-storm came to extinguish the surface fire. Two feet of snow—more than three inches of water—fell. During the storm I was comfortable beneath a shelving rock, with a fire in front; here I had a meal of wild raspberries and pine-nuts and reflected concerning the uses of forests, and wished that every one might better understand and feel the injustice139 and the enormous loss caused by forest fires.
During the last fifty years the majority of the Western forest fires have been set by unextinguished camp-fires, while the majority of the others were the result of some human carelessness. The number of preventable forest fires[Pg 163] is but little less than the total number. True, lightning does occasionally set a forest on fire; I have personal knowledge of a number of such fires, but I have never known lightning to set fire to a green tree. Remove the tall dead trees from forests, and the lightning will lose the greater part of its kindling140.
In forest protection, the rivers, ridge-tops, rocky gulches, rock-fields, lake-shores, meadows, and other natural fire-resisting boundary lines between forests are beginning to be used and can be more fully141 utilized142 for fire-lines, fire-fighting, and fire-defying places. These natural fire-barriers may be connected by barren cleared lanes through the forest, so that a fire-break will isolate65 or run entirely around any natural division of forest. With such a barrier a fire could be kept within a given section or shut out of it.
In order to fight fire in a forest it must be made accessible by means of roads and trails; these should run on or alongside the fire-barrier so as to facilitate the movements of fire patrols or fire-fighters. There should be with every for[Pg 164]est an organized force of men who are eternally vigilant143 to prevent or to fight forest fires. Fires should be fought while young and small, before they are beyond control.
There should be crows'-nests on commanding crags and in each of these should be a lookout144 to watch constantly for starting fires or suspicious smoke in the surrounding sea of forest. The lookout should have telephonic connection with rangers146 down the slopes. In our national forests incidents like the following are beginning to occur: Upon a summit is stationed a ranger145 who has two hundred thousand acres of forest to patrol with his eyes. One morning a smudgy spot appears upon the purple forest sea about fifteen miles to the northwest. The lookout gazes for a moment through his glass and, although not certain as to what it is, decides to get the distance with the range-finder. At that instant, however, the wind acts upon the smudge and shows that a fire exists and reveals its position. A ranger, through a telephone at the forks of the trail below, hears from the heights, "Small fire one mile south of Mirror[Pg 165] Lake, between Spruce Fork and Bear Pass Trail, close to O'Brien's Spring." In less than an hour a ranger leaps from his panting pony147 and with shovel and axe hastily digs a narrow trench148 through the vegetable mould in a circle around the fire. Then a few shovelfuls of sand go upon the liveliest blaze and the fire is under control. As soon as there lives a good, sympathetic public sentiment concerning the forest, it will be comparatively easy to prevent most forest fires from starting and to extinguish those that do start.
With the snow over, I started for the scene of the first fire, and on the way noticed how much more rapidly the snow melted in the open than in a forest. The autumn sun was warm, and at the end of the first day most of the snow in open or fireswept places was gone, though on the forest floor the slushy, compacted snow still retained the greater portion of its original moisture. On the flame-cleared slopes there was heavy erosion; the fire had destroyed the root-anchorage of the surface and consumed the trash that would ordinarily have absorbed and[Pg 166] delayed the water running off; but this, unchecked, had carried off with it tons of earthy material. One slope on the first burn suffered heavily; a part of this day's "wash" was deposited in a beaver pond, of half an acre, which was filled to the depth of three feet. The beavers149, finding their subterranean150 exits filled with wash, had escaped by tearing a hole in the top of their house.
Leaving this place, I walked across the range to look at a fire that was burning beyond the bounds of the snowfall. It was in a heavily forested cove50 and was rapidly undoing151 the constructive152 work of centuries. This cove was a horseshoe-shaped one and apparently would hold the fire within its rocky ridges. While following along one of these ridges, I came to a narrow, tree-dotted pass, the only break in the confining rocky barrier. As I looked at the fire down in the cove, it was plain that with a high wind the fire would storm this pass and break into a heavily forested alpine realm beyond. In one day two men with axes could have made this pass impregnable to the assaults of any fire,[Pg 167] no matter how swift the wind ally; but men were not then defending our forests and an ill wind was blowing.
Many factors help to determine the speed of these fires, and a number of observations showed that under average conditions a fire burned down a slope at about one mile an hour; on the level it traveled from two to eight miles an hour, while up a slope it made from eight to twelve. For short distances fires occasionally roared along at a speed of fifty or sixty miles an hour and made a terrible gale of flames.
I hurried up into the alpine realm and after half an hour scaled a promontory153 and looked back to the pass. A great cloud of smoke was streaming up just beyond and after a minute tattered154 sheets of flame were shooting high above it. Presently a tornado155 of smoke and flame surged into the pass and for some seconds nothing could be seen. As this cleared, a succession of tongues and sheets of flame tried to reach over into the forest on the other side of the pass, but finally gave it up. Just as I was beginning to feel that the forest around me was[Pg 168] safe, a smoke-column arose among the trees by the pass. Probably during the first assault of the flames a fiery dart45 had been hurled156 across the pass.
Up the shallow forested valley below me came the flames, an inverted157 Niagara of red and yellow, with flying spray of black. It sent forward a succession of short-lived whirlwinds that went to pieces explosively, hurling158 sparks and blazing bark far and high. During one of its wilder displays the fire rolled forward, an enormous horizontal whirl of flame, and then, with thunder and roar, the molten flames swept upward into a wall of fire; this tore to pieces, collapsed159, and fell forward in fiery disappearing clouds. With amazing quickness the splendid hanging garden on the terraced heights was crushed and blackened. By my promontory went this magnificent zigzag160 surging front of flame, blowing the heavens full of sparks and smoke and flinging enormous fiery rockets. Swift and slow, loud and low, swelling161 and vanishing, it sang its eloquent162 death song.
A heavy stratum of tarlike smoke formed[Pg 169] above the fire as it toned down. Presently this black stratum was uplifted near the centre and then pierced with a stupendous geyser of yellow flame, which reddened as it fused and tore through the tarry smoke and then gushed163 astonishingly high above.
A year or two prior to the fire a snow slide from the heights had smashed down into the forest. More than ten thousand trees were mowed164, raked, and piled in one mountainous mass of wreckage upon some crags and in a narrow-throated gulch between them. This wood-pile made the geyser flames and a bonfire to startle even the giants. While I was trying to account for this extraordinary display, there came a series of explosions in rapid succession, ending in a violent crashing one. An ominous165, elemental silence followed. All alone I had enjoyed the surprises, the threatening uncertainties166, and the dangerous experiences that swiftly came with the fire-line battles of this long, smoky war; but when those awful explosions came I for a time wished that some one were with me. Had there been, I should have turned[Pg 170] and asked, while getting a better grip on my nerves, "What on earth is that?" While the startled mountain-walls were still shuddering167 with the shock, an enormous agitated168 column of steam shot several hundred feet upward where the fiery geyser had flamed. Unable to account for these strange demonstrations169, I early made my way through heat and smoke to the big bonfire. In the bottom of the gulch, beneath the bonfire, flowed a small stream; just above the bonfire this stream had been temporarily dammed by fire wreckage. On being released, the accumulated waters thus gathered had rushed down upon the red-hot rocks and cliffs and produced these explosions.
In the morning light this hanging terraced garden of yesterday's forest glory was a stupendous charcoal170 drawing of desolation.
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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conflagrations
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| n.大火（灾）( conflagration的名词复数 ) | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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9
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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10
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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11
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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13
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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14
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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15
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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16
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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17
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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18
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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19
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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20
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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21
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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22
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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23
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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24
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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25
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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26
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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27
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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28
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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29
elk
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| n.麋鹿 | |
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30
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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31
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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32
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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33
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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34
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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35
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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36
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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37
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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38
clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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39
cuffed
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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41
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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42
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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44
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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45
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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46
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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47
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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48
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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49
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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50
cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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51
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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52
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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55
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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56
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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57
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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58
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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59
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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60
gulches
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| n.峡谷( gulch的名词复数 ) | |
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61
gulch
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| n.深谷，峡谷 | |
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62
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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63
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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64
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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65
isolate
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| vt.使孤立，隔离 | |
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66
glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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67
beacons
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| 灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台 | |
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68
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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69
silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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70
flickering
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|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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73
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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74
sparse
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| adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的 | |
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75
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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76
devastated
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|
| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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77
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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78
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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79
magpies
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| 喜鹊（magpie的复数形式） | |
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80
primitive
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|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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81
gusty
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| adj.起大风的 | |
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82
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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83
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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84
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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85
leeward
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|
| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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86
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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87
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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88
garnered
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| v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89
toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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90
influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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91
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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92
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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93
gorges
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|
| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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94
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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95
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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96
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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97
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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98
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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99
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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100
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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101
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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102
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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103
disintegrated
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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104
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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105
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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106
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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107
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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108
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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109
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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110
Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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111
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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112
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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113
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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114
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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115
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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116
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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117
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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118
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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119
incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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120
delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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121
entanglement
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| n.纠缠，牵累 | |
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122
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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123
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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124
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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125
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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126
gushing
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| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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127
incandescence
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| n.白热，炽热；白炽 | |
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128
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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129
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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130
boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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131
bog
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| n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖 | |
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132
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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133
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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134
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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135
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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136
burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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137
hibernate
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| v.冬眠，蛰伏 | |
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138
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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139
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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140
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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141
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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142
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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143
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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144
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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145
ranger
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| n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员 | |
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146
rangers
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| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
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147
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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148
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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149
beavers
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| 海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人 | |
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150
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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151
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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152
constructive
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| adj.建设的，建设性的 | |
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153
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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154
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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155
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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156
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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157
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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159
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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160
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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161
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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162
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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163
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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164
mowed
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| v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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165
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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166
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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167
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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168
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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169
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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170
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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