Fires in Colorado - Should we cancel our vacation?
 

The wildfires are 128 miles from Vail,where we plan on vacationing June 22nd. Since the fire is spreading in all directions (including west) and out of control I am not sure if it
is better to reschedule than to see such beautiful scenery partially blocked by smoke.
Any thoughts?

My two cents--no, you should not cancel your vacation to Vail. I live west of Denver about 25 miles in the foothills--we have neither seen nor smelled smoke from the High Park fire west of Ft. Collins. My husband played golf in Denver yesterday and said the skies were clear. The smoke is blowing to the northeat, toward Nebraska http://www.weather.com/news/high-par...ution-20120611
It would be almost impossible for smoke from this fire to get to Vail. Winds would have to be coming from the northeast with enough force to blow it over the 128 miles and over the contintnetal divide to get to the Vail Valley--and the fire may be under control in the next 10 days, anyway (hope so)

Here are a couple of websites with webcams in the Vail area--so you can take a look at the air quality
http://tinyurl.com/yjz3skn
http://web.vail.net/web-cams#13

Also vote for going for it. If it gets bad - you could cancel (they should give you a refund) and you could drive down to Colorado Springs and see Pikes Peak, etc.

Don't cancel. A lot can happen in 10 days. Worst case scenario, just have a backup plan and go elsewhere in the state. There's plenty of beautiful scenery all over Colorado.

I live in Fort Collins. No, don't cancel. The smoke from our fire is hanging around the front range and east but isn't getting that far west. Enjoy your trip!

Don't cancel. I wouldn't worry about going to Vail. I'm in the Denver area where we have a haze off and on and a faint smell of smoke. If it were bad, I would head to Vail to escape it. I have camping reservations next week in Rocky Mountain National Park which is much closer to the fire and I'm still planning on going.

There is no sign or smell of the fire in Denver. It is a big state.

I live in central Denver, and can smell smoke this morning. But, still, I am not canceling our upcoming visits to Vail and Winter Park.

This is going to be a tough summer for our mountains. All the beetle kill standing dead trees, plus the dry winter, makes a lot of fuel for fires.

Forest Service is considering banning fireworks this July 4th, which I hope they do.

You can smell the smoke, and see the haze, from Denver.
However, I was just in RM National Park today, pretty close (~30 miles) to the fires, and although you could see the smoke from Trail Ridge Road, the skies in Rocky were pretty clear.
But, there's no doubt that there's going to be a big one one of these days; the whole western slope from I70 south to the western RMNP portal is brown where it once was green.

I could see the haze and smell smoke in Denver yesterday, but the weather along the I-70 corridor (Clear Creek County, Summit County, and up to Vail) is gorgeous - bright sun and clear blue skies.

At the moment, here in Fort Collins, my eyes are burning a bit and throat is dry, but not too bad. I stayed indoors most of the day and avoided exercise. They are predicting some heavier smoke tomorrow, but I have friends who don't yet know if their houses are still standing, so I can't complain.

Definitely do not cancel your trip, this fire is too far away to affect Vail. You can keep an eye on developments here:
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/

They are now showing 5% containment for the first time, it was still zero earlier today. They have confirmed it was a lightning strike. We had an impressive display Friday evening. That left something smoldering for Saturday's winds.

Have a great trip to Colorado, but don't worry about this particular fire having much of an effect on you.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. This morning's news (June 13th) showed smoke covering downtown Denver, which must be horrible for the people of this great city. They also said the fire continues to speard and "may last until the fall." Wow.

My husband and I do not leave until June 22nd I hope all of you out there will continue to keep me posted. This east coast gal is truely grateful.

I was just out and it is a beautiful morning in the Denver area. Lots of blue sky and I don't smell or see any smoke so far today. You may get better information using a local Denver news source. I can't think of any reason why this fire would impact your trip.

www.9news.com/weather/video/webcams/default.aspx