Since arriving near West Glacier in late June of 2007, far more often than not, the air has been tainted by smoke from wildfires in Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere. Frequently, I have remained indoors and have canceled scheduled hikes so as not to breathe the injurious air. On August 30, a planned hike at Logan Pass was canceled because, again, the air was tainted by wildfire smoke. The images in this small gallery reflect Montana's wildfires and tainted air. Two pictures focus upon trees damaged and undamaged during the 2003 wildfire in and near Glacier National Park. Those two photos are less than splendidly clear because they were taken through air tainted by wildfires burning on August 30, 2007.

Since then, wildfires in Montana and Idaho have continued to burn - some older fires (months), some new - eg, the Jesse fire near Essex, Montana. As a visitor, I've had to adapt to not hiking most days because the air is so tainted with particulates from the wildfires. The overall significance of hundreds of thousands of wildfire acres per year is not clear, but adverse health effects seem likely for many who live or visit Montana during its long season of wildfires.

Clean air arrived near West Glacier on September 19th. As of Sept 20, the last 8 images in this gallery were shot in clean air. They are included in this wildfire smoke gallery because they convey the significance of the smoke and haze that accompanies large wildfires in Montana.

Click on an image to see a larger version.
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