Howe Ridge Fire

On the evening of August 11, a mostly dry thunderstorm stabbed lightning into the trees on Howe Ridge, just above Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.  A fire soon resulted.  Driven by wind, the fire raged at first, scouring down through heavy timber to the shores of the lake.  The fire destroyed cabins and out structures when it grasped them.  The west half of Going-to-the-Sun road was forced into closure.

Now, a full month later, in cooler and wetter weather, the fire is still creeping through heavy forest and issuing smoke on the east end of Lake McDonald.  To date, Howe Ridge fire has scorched some 14,499 acres of wildland.

The west half of Going-to-the-Sun remains closed.

Yesterday, that girl, two of her sisters, and I drove into Apgar on the west end of the lake.  Apgar and the lake were markedly quiet, if not somber.  We could see smoke rising from the blue timber above the far end of the lake.

Even given the fire, the lake and the mountains remain beautiful in a moody and blue way.

--Mitchell Hegman