Up close . . . another Wildfire

An unexpected hazard on our way to Cottonwood Canyon. Wind gusts of 47 mph tossed mounds of tumbleweeds across the road, making one lane impassable
fireweatheravalanche.org maps fires of all sizes

Let me bring you up to date in case you haven’t been reading the blog these past few weeks.

Large sections of the west are on fire. Smoke chokes the air of an even larger region. And, there’s not been much relief from Ma Nature.

This week, hoping to find a space with clean air, we drove up to Cottonwood Canyon.

Months ago we put a reservation on a cabin at that state park. Looking forward to lazy time on the veranda and smallmouth bass fishing, the car was loaded and headed north.

Upon arrival a flustered Park Ranger informed us that we had to leave. Cottonwood was under a Stage 3 Evacuation.

We did not even get unpacked. After a two-plus hour drive, this was not welcome news.

View of fire from Cottonwood Canyon State Park

But this news was not completely unexpected. There was a massive plume of smoke roiling over the crest of a hill on the eastside of the John Day River.

To the north, upstream, a hillside was completely blackened and smoldering.

View looking south from the park to scorched hillside.

We had been looking forward to this two-day stay, now we were driving back down Highway 97.

By mid-week, past our reservation window, the park had reopened with little or no fire damage.

We have two days reserved in October which should be outside wildfire season.

Until then it seems smoke-filled skies will continue to disrupt our summer plans.

Summer’s new Villain

Lowell Covered Bridge on Dexter Lake along Highway 58 . . . smoke from the Bedrock Fire near Fall Creek

A few more acres got added to the wildfire tally and the week was mostly about staying out of the heat and away from the plume. Eventually the heat subsided, but the opposite happened to the smoke cover.

Usually you can see the Cascade Range on the horizon

Every week it’s a game of guessing where the weather patterns are going to move the veil. The Crooked River might be sitting at 20 AQI (Air Quality Index) on Saturday and by mid-week have shifted to three times that number.

We’ve managed to re-direct travel plans, but with a tropical storm messing with the weather and 3 more major fires it’s not lookin’ good for outdoor activity.

There was a short trip over the Cascades to a favorite German Deli and some Willamette Valley fruit stands. But the rest of the week was spent avoiding smoke-ladened air.

This has become the new normal for Central Oregon . . . we’ll make it work.