The pilot had just finished his third or fourth flight of the day (one of them for me), and we were gathering gear to go up yet again, to look for our radio-collared elk before dark. Think it's the first relocation flight I've made during the evening hours.

He mentioned "and we've got a fire on Jack Creek."

Jack Creek. Unless the elk have really moved themselves around in the past two weeks (they haven't), that'll be on our way down, and on our way back. Never seen a fire from the air before.

Cool!

The look on his face tells me he doesn't think it's so cool. Shoulda remembered he's also a fireman.

A wildfire in a bug-dying national forest is probably not a cool thing if you're a fireman.

I find it fascinating how different the world looks from above. So connected, so small and so vast at the same time. And, in the high evening light, so different.

One of the city reservoirs, the one that looks so cold, clear and inviting in the morning light?

You can see what's growing in it when the sun's a lot higher. No wonder there's sometimes protein in the tap water.

And the shallow natural lake that looks turquois green in the morning?

A more realistic, yet almost alien, yellow.

And, naturally, the shadows are all on the other sides of the hills, and the Pass.

And in other news...

The aspen are starting to turn.

And yeah, we got to see the fire. Both coming...

And going.