Smoky

There has been well maintained, well marked trail the last few days along with the usual roads.  I can zone out, listen to music, or get creative.  I made up some lyrics about the CDT to an old tune.  

I didn't think I'd have anything to write about today as we were on a long stretch of forest service road all morning.  It changed at lunch.  We descended into a canyon to reach Los Indios spring.  It was lush and green in the canyon and a few aspens stood bright against the backdrop of canyon wall.  

Great place to eat and relax.  Birdie hiked up while we were there.  It was nice to see another hiker.  A few miles north of the spring we started smelling smoke.  There were a lot of burn areas that looked recent.  We rounded a corner and saw flames about the size of a campfire.  

Pounce called it in while I doused it with some of my water.  Later on there were signs from the BLM that they were doing controlled burns in the area.  It was still eery.  

We've been walking up on a mesa and will be descending to the desert floor soon.  This is a view at another rest stop.