Wildfires
Kinda sucked today. I woke up around 6am and smelled smoke. I wondered who had a campfire going that early in the morning. Came out of the tent and was greeted by a grey foggy day. It had rained a lot over night and it was supposed to rain throughout the day. Didn’t have much planned for the day but was happy that it was on the cooler side.
I kept smelling smoke and then it dawned on me that this wasn’t fog - it was smoke from the wildfires in further west. The visibility was so low and it smelled nice but not nice at the same time.
By about ten, all I wanted was a lung full of fresh air! It really closed in and I was starting to feel woozy and headachy. I went to the main office and asked the girls if they knew the smoke forecast and they coincidentally had it up on their screen. It showed a good 24 hours of it so I’d have to suffer through it. It also said that it would clear up the next day, then settle in again the day after.
It’s not easy to manage because all advice says to stay inside but when you’re living in a tent in a camp there are not really any options but to be outside. I was beginning to rethink my upcoming plans and decided to just wait and see before making any decisions I’d regret later.
We did some swimmies at my site. My neighbour was also at her water access and we chatted for a bit. She and her husband were from Toronto and on their return leg from driving to Jasper. She said she was planning on staying in Winnipeg for a day or two but they decided to keep going because the smoke was so bad there. She assured me that it was worse there but it didn’t feel like it.
We did a short hike to stay busy and then the bugs got the better of us so we hid.
Between the smoke, the bugs and my car not working I was feeling kinda low.
A few thunderstorms rolled through throughout the day. The first couple Jubs was a shivering mess and would have climbed into my skin if she could have but by the last one she was chill and just went back to her nap.
By late afternoon the wind had really picked up which I hoped would clear out the smoke. By about 9pm the sun was trying hard to break through the haze and it was a little clearer.
I checked the smoke forecast again before bed and it hadn’t changed much but I figured I’d have a reprieve by morning and then would reassess plans and decide if I’d have to leave. It was the plan to go into the backcountry Tuesday to Friday but not it the weather and smoke didn’t improve.
Went to bed feeling really nauseous and hoped sleep would come quickly.
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