We depart our fabulous camp and drive down toward the North Rim NP area. Tourists, visitor centers, paved roads and pre-programmed view-points. Out across the meadow just south of our camp road turn-off, we spot a small herd of bison. What a treat.

Many factors are coming into play today. Laundry takes some time. Internet sucks. Smoke from Oak Creek fire is filling up the Grand Canyon. All of these things do not matter. We are driving around, taking in the sights (clear or smoky), and having a fine day.

That said, it’s definitely not a day for prize-winning photography. Any and every vista is a compromised, smoky, hazy substitute for the Nat-Geo-class of pix that we all covet.

The very light itself is also confused, with the sun being filtered from every angle by grey-brown smoke. Even close-up objects are obviously dulled and occluded by the cruddy air.

We drive down the side road that leads to Angel’s Window, a remarkable rock formation with a gigantic hole that has been weathered out of a large peninsular promontory. The light and sky do not lend themselves to any decent photos. Peering through the angelic window yields only hazy gray smears of the far Canyon formations.

Roadside signage affords us some easy comparisons, and we “steal” some images.

On a clear day:

– – – and today

On a clear day – – –

– – – and today

This road we drive traverses the Walhalla Plateau, where a broad area in 2000 was severely burned by a large-scale fire.

Now, in 2014, the ravages of the fire are visible everywhere. The terrain is populated by burned-off snags, new growths of aspen, and hardy enclaves of fire-resistant pine forests that withstood the onslaught.

Some of the stands of pine weathered the fire well. Their bases were blackened, but otherwise they continued to thrive.

Others did not fare so comfortably. Their canopies were burned off, and the trees died.

After a period of time, the burned shafts dried and became brittle. Strong wind-storms ripped through the unprotected trunks, and snapped them off. These “stub forests” are everywhere, and somewhat eerie in appearance.

With the pine forests eliminated, aspens took over in many places. These will become towering groves in time.

The smoky sun started to set behind the dreary dead trees, and we headed for “home” – camp and Howie.

Along the meadows, the game were out for evening forage, and we were delighted with the bands of mule deer along our drive.