June 13th 2012 at Shambhala Mountain Center was a normal day of preparing for the large summer programs, although we were working with smoke blowing on the south wind. The members of SMC who were also volunteer firefighters minded their radios as they went about their regular tasks.

Around lunch time the nearby town of Glacier View was put on notice for pre-evacuation. Not long after, the staff of SMC was called together in the main shrine room of Sacred Studies hall. Shambhala Mountain Center was to evacuate over 100 staff, volunteers and participants within the hour to prevent blocking the country roads should the rest of the area’s population need to flee as well.

And thus began the 3 week experience that would test Shambhala Mountain Center’s resiliency as a community, a network of practitioners, and as a vassal of meritorious action and awareness in modern society.