Took off a little after five o'clock yesterday evening, to try to run the Lamont antelope route in area 62. It's a short route, and usually easy to run in the evening. No massive tears across the country to race the setting sun.

The sky is dark, overcast with one ominous large thunderstorm. Thin wisps of rain falling in places, but not all of it making it to the ground. But I remember the clouds that melted that morning, leaving me in bed on a perfect classification morning, so we go anyway.

And besides, I can see sunlight beyond the storm. It should blow over.

When we get to Lamont, the storm is still there. And spitting on us. Straight to the west, I see the strangest cloud, looking like it is raining up, rather than down. Or more like a plume of smoke than water vapour.

But we have lousy light. Lots of glassing with the binocs. And more than a few bedded antelope, preparing themselves for a major storm.

Fortunately, I have heelers. Nothing like having a pair of yipping heelers drag racing down the road to make an antelope a half mile away stand up and take notice.

About halfway through the route, I hear the deputy from the west calling for the BLM chopper. Seems the reason that one cloud looks like a plume of smoke is because it is a plume of smoke.

We have a fire. Our very own wildfire.

My first impulse is to do an about-face and head west to watch. But hard to justify, from a work standpoint, since I'm not carded for fire fighting. And, judging by his directions to the pumper truck, it would take over an hour just to get there.

But they're not really concerned with the fire. It appears to be putting itself out. The deputy wants the chopper to direct him to the location where the campers were rapidly breaking camp.

Right near where the fire apparently started.

So, anyway, I don't go watch. And as a reward, the sun comes out for almost an hour before disappearing behind clouds again. Good numbers of antelope. And we have a couple [really] good games of hide-and-seek in some stands of Basin sage (think 'small trees').

By the time we're headed down the highway after dark, they've got the fire well in hand. Only a few trees left flaring in the night.

Would have loved to have seen it.