Squeezing Summer out of the Smoke
As I feel I’ve spoken about, I feel too much of the time, most of July felt stolen from us by close wildfires and thick smoke. Early in the season, and maybe even now as the season comes closer to its end, Eastern Oregon was hit the hardest by wildfires in the west. At one time, the four largest wildfires in the country were all within an hour or an hour-and-a-half from our home - to the northwest, north, east, and south. We spent almost a month without seeing the sky, and often not even half a mile across the valley. Toward the end of July, I couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to fishing anyway in a small but beautiful spring creek near home with my friend Jason:
The prize and ever the goal in this creek: Westslope cutthroat trout. They only exist in Oregon in the John Day River basin and I love seeing them.
The more common locals: redband trout.
The the build up to the payoff seems better or more expected when presented this way, but the truth is that we drank the beer first.
In early August, the smoke began to lift in stretches that gradually lengthened. Logan and I set out south into a recently reopened section of forest once the fires slowed.
It was a bad day to be a grasshopper.
Hope you enjoyed. Trying to stay more updated with the journey and share stories along the way, chasing perfection but sharing reality nonetheless. The little moments are the ones you want photographs of later on anyway.
Until next time,