On Labor Day weekend, the campgrounds and trailer parks around the Grand Canyon were quiet. With excessive heat warnings throughout the country and restrictions in place to slow the spread of a deadly virus, the holiday weekend was different from years past. Still, a steady stream of RVers and campers rolled in and out of the campgrounds on the South Rim.
But those who had come to see one of the nation’s most treasured natural wonders were met with a hazy view. One morning, the other side of the Canyon was barely visible. The striking definition of ridges, the red and orange palettes the Canyon is known for had been flattened by a smoky, at times opaque, haze.
Smoke from some of the largest and hottest wildfires in history in California, Oregon and Washington had blanketed the West, and even reached the East Coast...