I probably shouldn’t have hiked. The AirNow.gov website had the AQI at 89, 11 points below unhealthy, so I decided to head out anyway. The air quality map showed that Santa Clarita was in a pocket of moderate air quality surrounded by large swaths of unhealthy air. In other words, smoke was covering the sky around us and our strange sky was back. Early in its rise, the final photo below, the sun was heavily obscured. As the morning went on, the normally blinding sphere became dark orange. It made a wonderful frame for a few flower shots.