Penni and I recently returned from an 11-day tour along the Oregon coast to visit family in central Washington. Some “side effects” of climate change shortened our trip. This got us discussing letting go of expectations and (trying to) accept the new realities of uncertainty. Here’s our story.
Oregon Coast
We drove from the Bay Area on Highway 101 to Eureka, a beautiful old port town, staying nearby in Arcata. The light smoke seemed more like the humidity or inversion haze we often see. The next morning in Crescent City near the Oregon border, all the coffee shops were closed. The power was cut because of forest fires in the mountains to the east. Emergency response vehicles were all over the town. Further north, the road east from US-101 to Grants Pass was closed. NOTE TO SELF: Carry backup coffee when traveling.
A mild background anxiety and concern about the smoke and fires remained with us as we stayed overnight in Coos Bay and Lincoln City, hiked to the beach over the Oregon dunes, explored some magnificent state parks, and visited the giant blimp hanger and creamery in Tillamook, with a final Oregon stay in beautiful Astoria.
Forewarnings
My daughter in Wenatchee, Washington, and our friends in Bend, Oregon had warned us that the smoke conditions there varied from 150 to 400 PPM and that we should be ready for whatever it was when we arrived. Easy to say. NOTE TO SELF: Pack N95 mask and small plug-in air filter.
Driving from the coast to central Washington, the sun was mostly a glowing orange ball in a slightly brown-gray haze. If I was outside, my eyes burned as if I’d rubbed them after cutting onions. Fortunately washing my face took care of that, and lozenges handled a few coughing fits from smoke irritation. In Wenatchee we stayed indoors mostly, running the large air purifier day and night. Air-conditioning managed the 80s and 90s temperatures.
While the smoke didn’t dominate our visit, it modified everything we did. Cascade Range foothill hikes were out, but walking the flat (less heavy breathing) path along the Columbia River was okay. We carefully accommodated this new late-summer reality. NEW EXPECTATIONS: Staying indoors will often be the way to go. While early mornings outside, when less smokey, will take advantage of cooler temperatures.
The day before heading to Bend, Oregon we googled air quality. It was around 300 PPM, eliminating any outdoor activities. Our friends agreed we should postpone the visit to earlier in 2024. To avoid the central Oregon smoke, we headed west to US 5 but encountered fire-related road closures. What was expected to be a 13-hour drive home through Bend was now 15+ hours through Portland. Even so, heavy smoke marked our Highway 5 drive south through Oregon and northern California.
Reflection
In the U.S. we have created a wonderful culture and we live in a magnificent country, but this road trip brought home to us how the comfortable certainty that tomorrow will be like yesterday has changed. The drive from the Washington border through Oregon and northern California to the Bay Area was a soft-focus downer. No distant hills, just pale gray depressing blobs. Photography was pointless. “Vista Point” signs were a joke. On grey flannel ridges, needles of charred tree trunks aligned on last season’s incinerated hills.
What to do? Locals have defined 4 new seasons — 1. Unpredictable snow and blizzards, 2. Mild Spring, 3. Extreme heat, 4. Smoke. Penni and I agreed to take our next visit in #2: Mild Spring. Perhaps March or April will ensure success.
The Bill Comes Due
Last year my planned summer backpacking trip in Trinity Wilderness was aborted on-site at the last minute by fires and smoke. I’m trying to accept the message, “Get used to it”, but after so many years of a steady state, these accelerating changes are distressing. I know we should look on the bright side, the amazing and growing benefits our industrial culture bestows on us all, but August’s drive had Penni and me wishing our culture would dump less.
In the long run, we must build a more sustainable culture, but meanwhile, we can only accommodate the increasing uncertainty that our polluting industrial processes and wasteful consumerism bring. Though the road trip smoky immersion got me down — Penni not so much — I’m not fleeing to Mars. There’ll just be no more late-summer driving, no more too-hot summer visits to southern Europe, more refundable plane tickets, more plan B’s — and maybe plan C’s.
Plan Carefully
Meanwhile, we happy travelers, back from this slightly shortened family visit road trip, wish you all a careful and thoughtful start to the school year, and happy soon-approaching national midwinter solstice celebrations.
P.S. One last suggestion: Please, no flying during these winter holidays. There’s just too much unpredictable weather, too many canceled flights – Okay!
On the other hand, if you must, then relish your adventure, wear your mask, expect the unexpected, and truck on!
Thank you for reading.
Barry
Add Your Name below to my list to know when I have posted a new blog.
