We’ve had another week in relatively clear air, but remained surrounded by a smoke plume. At one point this week the air quality index for Prineville was 500 . . . that’s ventilator level bad.
This crummy summer got even worse with an early closure of Steelhead fishing on the Lower Deschutes. That season typically runs August to October and we get a couple of early fall attempts for the sea-run trout.
The fires remain mostly to the east of us and the smoke map was showing some better air along the Cascade Range.
With time running out for even a day on the river swinging for Steelhead, we were looking for an opening in the weather around Maupin.
The SmokeWX map seemed to offer some chance, which was better than none, so we took it.
Turns out winds can shift quickly, so the light smoke cover had turned to a thick cloud by the time we got up there.
One poor choice down, we made a second and decided to see if we could get some images of the Grasshopper fire from Highway 197, east of Dufur.
The answer to that question is . . . yes, a resounding yes.
We managed to drive right into a level three “evacuate now area . . . oops. But the images were good and as long as you stayed in the car and kept your mask on it wasn’t too bad.
Fire watch adventure aside, we’ve been lucky with the air and at least to the south and east of us the air quality remains good.
Here’s hoping it stays that way.