ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. land managers are racing the clock as hotter, drier weather raises the risk of wildfires in the nation’s overgrown forests with each passing year.

“The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is like another world,” said Ethan Aumack, executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust, who has fond memories of skiing through the woods to the rim after the lone road that leads there closes for the winter. “It feels like a much more personal place.”

Wildfires burning at or near the Grand Canyon's North Rim are still raging as strong winds, high heat and low humidity persist.

I visited the Grand Canyon's North Rim looking for a uniquely Arizona experience. Instead, it taught me what it meant to be an Arizonan.