Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Mother nature has not been very good to the Pacific Northwest. When we camped at Riley Creek the temperatures were in the high 90's. Two weeks later the temps up the St. Joe River averaged in the low 100's. Then add smoke from forest fires into the mix and you see why old Mom nature has made these last weeks tough to endure.

Smoke moved in and out during our stay.

On Tuesday the 27th we drove up the St. Joe River for five days of camping with Rayelle, Mike, and Julia Anderson. Reports of forest fire activities were on every media outlet. We had planned this campout since February and our hopes were that the wind would be consistent and blow the smoke east into Montana. 

When we arrived at our campsite the wind was favorable and smoke was not an issue. We got set up and the Andersons had arrived.  Julia brought her friend Lucy and they set up a tent in the shade near the Anderson travel trailer.

Our week together was fun. We took drives and went swimming. The smoke came and went, but the heat was relentless. When we were in camp we chased the shade, moving as the sun moved. Mike and I took a short drive upriver to check out the site where we wanted to enter the river on our float day. Everything looked good.

On Thursday Mike's teaching friend Phil Zimmerman arrived in their RV with his wife Julie and their two boys Noah and Roman. They planned to float the river with us, stay the night and then leave on Friday morning.

Our float on the river started just above Marble Creek and ran down to Huckleberry. Mike had transported our fishing cat, a river kayak, and numerous floating devices up to the river dropping Linda, Julia, Lucy, and myself off to prep the equipment. On the second trip, the truck was filled with the rest of our floaters. 

Our flotilla formed up and we were off downriver. Even though the temperatures were in the 100's the river kept us cool. Our float took us about three hours. Swimming, floating, jumping off rocks, and talking made the trip go fast. It was a fun day and a great way to avoid the heat.

Back at camp, we let Mike and Rayelle chat with their friends. Linda and I ate and went swimming to cool off before bed. That is such a great way to get ready for bed.

When everyone woke up and cleared the sleep from our heads, we loaded into the truck and drove up to Avery. Most of the gang had ice cream at the Idaho Flyfishing Company and then we drove upriver to the swinging bridge just beyond Turner Flats campground. At the pack bridge, we went swimming, keeping cool. The kids, along with  Mike and Phil all climbed the rocks and did some jumping. Once again the river saved us from the heat.

Back at Huckleberry the Zimmermans loaded up and had to return home. It was nice to meet them. We ate dinner and played cards until bedtime. 

"Ya think we have enough boats with us?"

Our final adventure took us back up to Avery where we had a very nice lunch at TFP Takeout. Everyone really enjoyed their lunch of fire-baked pizza. We ate as we watched the Olympics.

Once we returned to camp we made the decision that we would cut the trip short and leave that day. The early exit was brought about because the smoke had moved back down to camp. It made no sense to stay in 100-degree heat and thick smoke. We quickly packed up and drove home. 

Another Huckleberry adventure in the books. We really enjoyed camping with the Andersons. Their laid-back approach to being out and exploring fits with us perfectly. Looking forward to camping in the future, if the heat and smoke ever goes away!

We drove up to the swinging bridge to swim.