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August 15, 2021August 14, 2021

More Heat and Smoke of Summer

This week we were, again, dealing with smoke from an increasing number of wildfires, as well as record high temperatures.

The week started out with an air quality level at a breathable ‘moderate’.

We headed up to the Crooked River and with a little searching found a quiet, shady spot to set up our chairs, break out cold drinks, and open the lunch boxes. Mid-day temps pushed 90º but a light breeze through the shade of ancient junipers made for a pleasant day.

Fishing wasn’t great but Tip and I covered a lot of stream to to be sure. We spent most of that time wading. The reparian is still pretty lush as the river level remains high. A few more weeks of this and the resevoir will be all but dried up and we’ll see a dramatic shift in stream levels.

The wildfire smoke settled onto us for the remainder of the week and we’ve been living with “unhealthy and hazardous” air quality conditions. Hoping for some relief next week.

August 8, 2021August 7, 2021

Smokey Daze

This week smoke from all those wildfires settled over Central Oregon. The nation’s largest wildfire burns just an hour south of us and a stormfront brought hundreds of lightning strikes and of course, more fires. Nearly all the “hot spots” have been extinguished, but the big blazes in Southern Oregon and Northern California resist efforts to contain them.

All trips to the river result in a wet dog.

Mostly we stay indoors and out of the thick air. One day, when the air quality got a bit better we did the Cascade Highway loop. This takes us right by a favorite spot on the upper Deschutes.

Tip got to do some swimming and we had a brief picnic lunch before the smoke settled back down on us. The weatherman suggests air quality might get better next week. But we have to keep in mind that August is peak wildfire season so we’re not holding out much hope. Glad we managed a few moments on the river.

August 1, 2021July 31, 2021

Summer’s End

In one day alone, lightning ignited 19 wildfires across Central Oregon.

August came and brought a scattering of rain showers, as well as a renewal of the heat warnings. The West is still on fire, the air quality drops to moderate and storms bring some rain but also lightning.

This week our escape was to drive a few miles west to the head waters of the Deschutes River and Tip’s favorite swimming hole.

The ODFW has placed restrictions on Oregon’s large rivers as water temperatures rise from the heat wave.

These “Hoot Owl” hours protect already stressed fish, limiting hours we can be on the water.

The Upper Deschutes benefits from higher altitude and mid-summer snow run-off, so it’s waters stay cooler and fishable, for now.

Tip loves this spot to wade the stream and play fetch. Once started it’s pretty hard to get his focus off the game. We’re glad to set our chairs on the shady bank and take in it’s natural AC.

There is a ten degree difference in temp plus the soothing sound of moving water (broken by demanding barks from the dog). Half a day on the stream and we all are refreshed.

July 25, 2021July 24, 2021

Relief from summer’s heat

In the high desert, even during a normal summer, the grasses have dried by mid-June. This year the forests and saged plains are tinder dry.

But on a river’s edge there is still an abundance of lush green growth.

This summer the heat of the day hits mid-morning and we’ve been fortunate to avoid most of the smoke and haze. So this week we headed to the river and the shade along its edge.

Now typically I’m focused on the insect life when wading a stream.

However, Jacqueline turned her attention, and camera, to the grasses lining the stream. It turns out there is a trove of tiny winged critters tucked into the leaves and stems.

We spotted wasps of different shapes and sizes, as well as some less lethal insects among the plants.

There were purple blossoms on nearly every stem which might have been the main attraction.

Tip didn’t seem to notice as he made numerous trips to the water from our shaded seating area.

Of course I concentrated on the bugs skipping across the water’s surface … trying to blend in and lure a fish to strike. The day’s heat is always degrees cooler along a river. Not sure how much longer the wildfire’s haze will be directed away from us, so we take advantage of any clear day.

July 18, 2021July 17, 2021

Smokey Days

Wildfires are burning all around us. This week instead of subjecting you to another appliance upgrade ‘update’, we’re just going to leave a picture of this morning’s sunrise on the AM walk. Yeah, it’s kind of smokey.

There are 600 acres burning on the eastern edge of La Pine, 4 houses were lost and a bunch of outbuildings. That blaze has a fireline around it. However, there are 6 thousand acres burning east of Sisters that still threatens homes up there. To the southeast of us is currently the largest wildfire in the western US. The Bootleg Fire is burning 220 thousand acres and remains very active.

A heat dome and the wildfires have kept us pretty much at home. Hope you’re doing better than us … though as the winds shift you don’t need to be close to a fire to still get covered with smoke.

This is an interesting web site to track not just fire activity but the smoke cover. We’ve seen a shift from good to poor air quality as the winds moved more westerly this last evening.