{"id":93097,"date":"2021-08-09T05:43:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T11:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=93097"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:05:33","slug":"remembering-smokeless-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/09\/remembering-smokeless-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Smokeless Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WestWest Desert mountain range view – May 26, 2021\u00a0 \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Smoke from western wildfires has been an issue here in northern Utah for quite some time now. Our wildfire season has grown longer, stronger, and the fires themselves are more destructive.<\/p>\n

The smoke we are experiencing in northern Utah has mostly been coming from Oregon and California. Last week the small California town of Greenville<\/span><\/a> was destroyed when the Dixie Fire swept through it.<\/p>\n

The smoke we are breathing here in northern Utah contains the particulates of devastation from our neighbors to the west. The Dixie Fire, one of 107 wildfires currently burning in the west, has now burned more than 500,000 acres.<\/p>\n

Because the Salt Lake Valley is surrounded by mountains the smoke gets trapped here sometimes for days on end. It starts to get hard to remember what smokeless days look like.<\/p>\n

I’ve been restricting my journeys out into the field on days when I think the smoke will bother me. It gives me headaches, makes my eyes burn, and can make it hard to breathe. I haven’t been getting out much at all and that is likely to continue into the fall.<\/p>\n

Fire can be good. It can<\/em> rejuvenate. But these fires are more destructive now<\/span><\/a> because of climate change<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photo I shared today isn’t of anything special. It is a West Desert mountain range view. That smokeless blue sky though? I’d give so much to see that again here today.<\/p>\n

With every smoky sky I see I am vividly aware that they contain particulates of devastation. The loss of homes for people and wildlife. People’s hopes, dreams, and their hard work. Bits of the forests that will be altered for generations.<\/p>\n

My brain has a hard time processing all that has been lost and that is carried here to Utah by the prevailing winds. When I think about it it becomes so damn overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Life is good but we have to do our part now to make it better. For everyone and every thing.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my West Desert scenery photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The photo I shared today isn’t of anything special. It is a West Desert mountain range view. That smokeless blue sky though? I’d give so much to see that again here today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[358,26,773],"tags":[3940,4101,5181,4098,4109,3914,4674,2691,4069,2817,4057,4677,4018,10452,165,4210,2690],"class_list":["post-93097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-canyon","tag-clouds","tag-conifers","tag-desert","tag-grasses","tag-juniper","tag-junipers","tag-juniperus-osteosperma","tag-mountains","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-shadows","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-spring","tag-stansbury-mountains","tag-utah-juniper"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/west-desert-mountain-view-mia-mcpherson-1767.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-odz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89541,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/31\/recent-birds-ive-found-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":0},"title":"Recent Birds I’ve Found In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 31, 2021","format":"chat","excerpt":"Last week I made two trips out to the West Desert and today I am sharing a medley of recent birds that I found while I was out there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-tailed Hawk basking in the warmth of the morning sun, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-basking-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2040.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-basking-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2040.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-basking-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2040.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-basking-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2040.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111956,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/02\/rock-squirrel-tree-topper\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":1},"title":"Rock Squirrel Tree Topper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost three years ago, I photographed this Rock Squirrel perched in top of a juniper in the foothills of some sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel on a juniper on the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-mia-mcpherson-0428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61299,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/09\/west-desert-rock-squirrel-on-top-of-a-juniper\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":2},"title":"West Desert Rock Squirrel On Top Of A Juniper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don't have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I'd like to.","rel":"","context":"In "Rock Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"Rock Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/rock-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rock Squirrel at the top of a Juniper tree, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-juniper-sky-mia-mcpherson-9697.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97235,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/13\/singing-townsends-solitaire-surrounded-by-tiny-bugs\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":3},"title":"Singing Townsend’s Solitaire Surrounded By Tiny Bugs","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was thrilled to listen to and photograph a singing Townsend's Solitaire as it perched on a juniper surrounded by tiny flying bugs.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing Townsend's Solitaire and tiny flying bugs, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-bugs-juniper-mia-mcpherson-3525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-bugs-juniper-mia-mcpherson-3525.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-bugs-juniper-mia-mcpherson-3525.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/townsends-solitaire-bugs-juniper-mia-mcpherson-3525.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102638,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/25\/female-western-tanager-perched-on-a-juniper\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":4},"title":"Female Western Tanager Perched On A Juniper","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent time photographing a female Western Tanager perched on a juniper in a canyon out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Western Tanager perched on a juniper, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/western-tanager-adult-female-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/western-tanager-adult-female-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/western-tanager-adult-female-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8495.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/western-tanager-adult-female-juniper-mia-mcpherson-8495.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95019,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/15\/more-west-desert-red-tailed-hawk-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":93097,"position":5},"title":"More West Desert Red-tailed Hawk Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I went out into the West Desert yesterday and came back with more Red-tailed Hawk images that I was delighted to have taken and that I am happy with.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a White Fir, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}