Landscapes

Coming from relatively densely-packed communities, I’m not used to driving through empty landscapes. The total lack of anything strikes me as foreign every time I encounter it. I’m not sure I could ever get used to this.

From Salt Lake City to Bryce Canyon the drive was an 80 mph blur through cattle ranches and open plains. Not exciting, but not terribly different than some other rural places I’ve seen.

After leaving Zion, there was a lot more nothing,

As we approached the Kaibab National Forest, the landscape did begin to change. First, we gained some elevation so prairies turned toward rolling hills. There were trees – mostly thin pines, but also a heavy sprinkling of birch – that grew denser as we continued southeast.

Then we saw the remnants of the fire.

I didn’t know that this forest recently experienced a substantial fire. The Mangum fire burned 71,450 acres of forest this summer, resulting in a landscape that is a different kind of nothing. While the earlier parts of Arizona had nothing to look at – like a beige wall – the land scarred by the fire had just enough present to indicate that you were missing the complete picture – like when a picture taken off the wall leaves an outline. You know something better was there, but you can’t see it.