My vacation had been planned for months when the news came about the Colorado fires. We had planned to go whitewater rafting on the Cache la Poudre river but all rafting trips were cancelled as fire fighters battled. Then just before our trip, the fire fighters got the fires under control, and rafting was opened again.

I expected the scenery along the river to be all blackened, but most of the trees were not burned near the river. On to the mountain crests, we could see burned trees. Many trees are very brown because Colorado only got about 10 percent of its normal snow fall this winter, so conditions are extremely dry.

The biggest visual reminder of the fire was the ash in the water. Our guide said it would normally be clear to the bottom, but we could see fine ash turning the water black. Along the edges, the sand was also black.

Check out my video diary from the trip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Along the highways and in small towns were signs thanking the fire fighters. We send our thanks for protecting the ...

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