In June the Las Conchas Fire had gotten pretty bad. The fire was so big that we were getting smoke and ash up in Taos. The smoke was burning our throats and eyes and making us nauseous. Plus we had paranoia about possible radiation. (In the 50s and 60s radioactive material was buried around Los Alamos Laboratory in the forest. Was it being burned? Was there radioactive material in the air? Would we trust the “officials” to tell the public if there was?)

So Thebes and I decided to go to Colorado on an impulsive vacation. We also took Sieben. What was his reaction?

Doggie vacation! He loved it so much we joked he was having a better time than us.

We picked Durango because it was far, far away from the smoke. Even past the Colorado border there was still haze in the sky.

Durango is a lovely city. There’s so much outdoor activity.

The view above was on a trail that was behind our hotel.

We went on a lot of hikes.

Snow on the mountains:

Sieben and I posed for a photo:

He’s a big boy-he weighs around 115 lb now.

The forest fire was heavily on our minds. Every morning we’d check the news for updates. On one of our hikes we walked through an area that had burned years before.

But there is rebirth even after such destruction. I found this plant inspiring.

The Animas River runs right through Durango. There’s a lovely trail that runs by it. Here’s Thebes scouting for a photo spot:

There was a leash free dog park in town. It was awesome-five acres, free and the Animas River ran through it.

Sieben loved the park. He played in the river, got to run around a new place and got to meet other dogs.

A thistle in bloom:

Many towns including Taos had canceled their July 4th fireworks. Durango had theirs so we still got to see a show this year. We hiked up a trail behind our hotel and had a great view.

At the end of our trip we drove to Winter Park to see our old friend Dartman. We hiked with him on the Appalachian Trail in 2000. We’ve kept in touch over the years but hadn’t seen each other since our trail days.

On the drive there I got violently ill. I was curled in the fetal position in the passenger seat repeatedly vomiting into plastic bags. I told Thebes to keep driving because I was going to be sick either way-why not make some good road time? Later I realized it was a gluten intolerance. That ties in with my Endometriosis so I’ll save that for another post.

We made it to Winter Park but I was still sick. My vomiting had subsided but I was exhausted. We had planned to camp out with Dartman for old times sake but I wasn’t up for that. He got us a cabin at the resort he was at which I really appreciated. But I wasn’t the only one:

Sieben loved sleeping on the bottom bunk bed in our room.

After a good night’s sleep I felt a lot better. I decided to skip hiking though because I wanted to let my body recover. So we decided to go out for sushi instead. Here’s me and Thebes with Dartman:

We drove back to Taos after our visit. The Las Conchas Fire was still going but was starting to get contained. The smoke in Taos was still there but not as bad. Originally we fled to get away from the smoke but our trip turned into a nice mini vacation.