The time to end the search was nearing, the scope of the ruin settling in so that Dave sometimes wakes at night, mad at himself — mad for sticking with this unsparing endeavor, and mad at himself for passing it on to his kids.

But in the daylight, it’s clear as day that this is the only place for the Daley family: Where Dave’s grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse down the road – where he bumped along in the back of his grandfather’s pickup on cold fall mornings, hot chocolate being his reward for taking part in the roundup – where his children played in spring-fed meadows, when the grass was an electric yellow-green and the calves still stood on wobbly legs.

“This is a hard country to know,” he said. “Thirty years from now, Juni will be riding down a trail and probably find a bell.”

––

Please take the time to read Anita's story about this six generation ranching family, hard hit by the North Complex fire here, and consider supporting the journalism we do at the L.A. Times. latimes.com/subscribe