In June, I camped in Nevada’s pristine Lamoille Canyon, halfway between Reno and Salt Lake City, considered the “Swiss Alps” of Nevada. As you can see from the picture above, we enjoyed a peak late spring bloom in this incredible canyon on U.S. Forest Service land.

In August, I then wrote on this blog about how the canyon and the surrounding Ruby Mountains are at risk from Trump Administration-approved oil-and-gas drilling activities.

Now I learn the sad news that the canyon was largely gutted by a fire that started on Sunday outside a nearby shooting range, just beyond the canyon mouth. The video below was taken by the U.S. Forest Service from a helicopter tour on Tuesday. The area I camped in appears around 2 minutes in, near a historic lodge that burned.

While fires are a natural part of the cycle, we know climate change is worsening their severity, while suppression activities may have made this fire worse (though it looks like the more alpine part of the canyon at higher elevations may have been spared the devastation).

It’s sad to think that no one will enjoy a Lamoille Canyon spring like I saw I back in June for many years to come. But on the bright side, this coming spring could see a nice flower show, as the fire-enriched solo nourishes new plant growth.

The cycle will continue, though in new directions in this era of rapid climate change.