In an unprecedented move the provincial government here in BC has issued an blanket ban on backcountry travel in the southern third of the province in an effort to reduce the risk of human-caused forest fires and has extended the provincial state of emergency.

BC is in a drought like it has never seen before. Vancouver, a city noted for its plentiful rain, has only 40 days of water left in its reservoirs. This is thedriest year on record all over the province and the forests are showing it. That's why there are over 800 fires currently burning in BC and why for hefirst time ever large communities were hreatened. It was only sheer luck, in the form of several nights of no to low winds and cooler temeratures, that saved the city of Kelowna, home to 100,000 people, from burning to the ground. That small break in the weather gave the fire fighters an opportunity to gain control over the fire.

Fortunately we have so far not had any fires here in Rossland, but now all my favourite hiking trails are closed. That I will miss. I love my trails :-(