Summer time forest fires are just a part of life in the north country. Doubt there has ever been a summer without some major fires. I have seen the Fairbanks area so smoke filled that it is hard to breath. In 2009, I believe it was, there was a big fire over north of Tok, around Chicken, that burned most of the summer or it hit a river too big to jump.
About all a visitor can do is go somewhere else for a few weeks, such as to Valdez, normally smoke free. SE Alaska doesn't burn with the large fires as it is a northern rain forest, just too wet.
There were summers, when we were living in the Interior of the state, where flying our planes was just not much fun, due to the smoke and poor visibility. The smoke also put enough particles into the air to allow more clouds to form and more lightening to occur starting new fires. There are a few man caused ones but most are the result of lightening strikes.
Most of the Interior of Alaska qualifies as a northern desert, receiving about 11 inches of water per year. Most of that, comes with the fall rains, which turn into the winter snows about the first week of October. But with much of the land, underlain with permafrost, 11 inches just goes a long ways to making any flat area swampy. However the vegetation does get very dry, for much of the summer. Anywhere there is no permafrost, the water soaks in or runs off if there is any elevation involved.
As mentioned above, just keep a check on the fires, along with the weather and you will normally smell the smoke long before you can see it.
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
2016 Fleetwood Flair 31 B Class A w/bunks
www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper
Alaska-Colorado and other Trips posted
"Without challenge, adventure is impossible".
