We have been complaining about the wet year, but it is the first summer for a while where we have not been plagued by forest fires.  I had been hearing about the flowers in a piece of forest that had burned a year ago on Highway 20 near the top of The Hill going to Bella Coola.  Mogens and I visited there this spring.  There was snow on the ground then – it is where we saw the fox.

So I drove through Nimpo Lake and Anahim Lake and then further west until I came to the burn.

I had expected to see a lot of fireweed but found only  a few spindly clumps.

The heart-leaved arnica, however, were spectacular.

I also found the burned bones of a large animal – a deer of some sort probably – I did not find the skull.  The bones were scattered so the animal must have been long dead by the time the fire came along.

Back onto Highway 20, I found a large clump of fireweed right beside the road.  Those are the volcanic Rainbow Mountains in the background.