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Day 8: A Horrible Beauty – A massive cloud of smoke rises from the Chelan Complex wildfires in Central Washington State. A few trees on the ridge line give a sense of the scale of this fire. This is a smaller complex of fires than the Okanogan Complex to the north where I was this past week. This was the view from Highway 99 that runs along the Columbia River north of the city of Wenatchee. The wildfire season in the western U.S. is now a month longer due to climate change. Drought here has made fire conditions explosive. Fire is a natural part of this ecology but the frequency, size, and unpredictable behavior of these fires is unprecedented in the modern history of this area. @itomhyde for @burndiary #photodiary #ontheroad #chelan #wildfire #chelancomplex #columbiariver #climatechange