Smokemageddon Update

the rising river under my cabin

Part I (8/21)

So many bugs, so much smoke, so much guest food to prevent going to waste.  The bugs were stirred up by a massive brush cutting and removal to clean things up in case the fire reaches our front door.  The smoke is, I believe, hovering between “hazardous” and “highly dangerous” levels.  I should probably be more concerned about this, but it smells like a permanent barbecue/campfire and dims the lights so that I get a solid afternoon nap.  There’s not as much work for us cooks because management wisely decided not to bring guests into the inferno.  But we just can’t stay out of the kitchen, making extra treats, ornate sauces, and, in my case, croissants.  I appreciate the orderliness and relative quiet of the kitchen (all the common spaces are full of underemployed staff).  Also, we all get to stay in the guest cabins to get out of the smoke.  Also also, the triennial melting of a glacial ice dam means the grounds are flooding up to four feet.  A raging river plus a wildfire!!!

Part II (8/28)

I was really getting into the 3-hour work days and long euchre game series when the fire got within two miles of camp.  Our managers coordinated a preemptive evacuation plan so that we could get the maximum number of vehicles and high-ticket items out in an organized fashion.  That time came Monday evening, and before I could quite wrap my head around it I was driving a friend’s car full of hastily thrown together possessions south to Seward.  I’m chagrined that, in the scramble, I only packed pre-sliced provolone and havarti; thankfully, a more collected coworker packed logs of goat cheese and a round of petit basque.

Aside from some emotional discomfort associated with abruptly leaving living quarters with your life shoved in a few bags, things have been pretty nice.  Sympathetic hotel managers have accommodated us and it feels like an awkwardly-executed but well-meant surprise weekend getaway.  Our lodge might burn to a crisp, but let’s eat Thai food and check out the aquarium!

Everything is touch and go but supposedly we head back tomorrow to close up shop and winterize camp.  In a weird and great season it just gets weirder and greater-er.