Smoke and Snow

Ahem....  it is not supposed to snow in June.  Seriously, Alberta?  Freezing temperatures and a newbie-slightly-unprepared field crew ensured a shorter day today.  The smoke didn't help, but it wasn't the limiting factor - at some point, I wasn't sure if what was falling was snow or ash until it melted on my jacket.  oooh boy, it is cold.

After yesterday's bombardment with blackflies, the freezing temps were welcome -- at least until the fingers started to freeze.  It ensured a bug-free environment and the poor spiders that spin their homes in the spruce were collecting nothing but tiny ice balls in their complicated nets. Helicopters flew overhead en route to or from the nearby burning fires, but the sky was clear of biting critters.  This site was threatened by the fire that still burns out of control north of Fort McKay, so we were glad to find it unburned.



Driving into the city last evening, we fought traffic and then a wall of smoke.  All day was beautiful and we spent some lovely time under deep blue skies and puffy clouds.  We parked at our hotel here in Fort McMurray and a wall of smoke and ash pushed over the rise and into the city.  The wind picked up and the sky turned orange as the sun burned through the instantly smokey air.  Road debris and dirt flew with smoke and ash as the sudden winds whipped us in our struggle to the door.  My teeth were gritty.  The hotel was smokey. My eyes burned.  Our rooms are not hermetically sealed.   

Something Wicked This Way Came.  Within minutes it went from sunny and blue to debris filled, smokey, dark and toxic.  Driving through the mines today, the greys were impressively depressive....   it was a bleak cold trip today and a rough re-entry into Fort McMurray. It has been an eventful couple of days.