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In case you missed the news, 1 million acres of Oregon caught on fire starting on Memorial day. We were out of the smoke for the first few days as it drifted west, but then the flow switched back to the normal westerly flow and we were soon experiencing the worst air quality in the world. Yes, the world. So after a week of being stuck inside it was time to get out of town for a breath of fresh air. Steens Mountain sounded good. Off we went.

We drove 4 hours east, then south, only to arrive to find our planned destination of Page Springs full to overflowing. Overrun seems to be the theme this year. People are out and about, for whatever reason, even more than normal. I hope they all go back to work, school or at least back in front of their TV sometime soon. We moved up the road, but the dispersed sites we knew of were all occupied by cows and their associated dust, pies, troughs and the like. Right about 10 pm we settled in to the last available site at Fish Lake.

Since we were halfway up the mountain we changed from our original plan of spending all of Saturday on the Blitzen River to making another try at fishing Wildhorse Lake. We attempted that trip last fall, but ultimately came up short due to snow near the summit.

After the mile and a half decent over loose rock we were at the lake, and had it all to ourselves. We left the crowds at the rim. The passing front made casting the fly a challenge but one that ultimately paid off in a few nice cuttyrainbrowns.

We enjoyed the scene, threw a few more bugs to the fish and ultimately to the brush and finally made the slog back up to the rim. What a place. I already want to go back.

An added bonus was some early fall color. I didn’t think we would make it up the mountain, but since we did we were able to enjoy some rustling aspen leaves and some golden tinged trees.

Sunday we packed it all in. Yes, I know, we just got here! But we packed it in and stopped by the Donner und Blitzen River for an afternoon foray up the trail to search for more trout. The trail was much better than I expected (honestly, I really didn’t expect an actual trail, and there is a really good trail at least 2 miles upriver from Page Springs!). We didn’t end up bringing a fish to hand, but had a couple rises and observed one very large fish. Summary: We’ll be back….

After the walk with a lot of casts we enjoyed a lunch and a walk back out. We encountered a total of 3 people up river. I guess that makes it an equal count of trout to people observed. Not bad consdering all the birds and other wildlife we saw. A fresh breath of air indeed. And yes, we did get out of the smoke and were able to confirm the stars are still there.

We made our way home the slow way by taking the southern part of the center patrol road through the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. I’ll tell you this, that place is full of wildlife! Coyotes, deer, birds, just to name a few. The place is absolutely overrun! We also swung by Krumbo Reservoir on the way out. For every place we get crossed off “the list” we seem to add two more. Life’s challenges seem to keep coming. I think we are up to it.