My first encounter with what would become the Big Windy Fire, was in the early morning hours of July 26, 2013. I was woken up by a loud crack, and as my groggy vision came into focus, realized that like many soggy campers before me, the chance I had taken in sleeping out in the open was about to not pay off. As I scrambled to toss what I could in my dry bag, and began the slog across the lawn of Paradise Lodge to the… Read More