Floats and Fires at Big Pines

 Adventure is what we call it when the unexpected happens. We didn’t plan for anything exciting on this trip, just the opposite in fact, but things got spicy! Our goal was to find Riley some peace and quiet away from the pops, bangs, and booms that herald the 4th of July at home. Our big baby is not a fan. We left Sunday, 6/25, and not a bit too soon as the fireworks had already started in our neighborhood. And yes, they are illegal and no, it doesn’t seem to matter. Lol. Our first stop was five nights at Big Pines Campground on the Yakima River. We’ve stayed here a few times before and it’s a favorite for floating the river. 

We're parked about 40 feet from the Yakima River. Love the view!

We had a lazy camp day on Monday, walking the short trails around the campground and letting the pups dip their toes in the river. Both Rog and I have been running on minimal sleep and we had some catching up to do. In truth, it’s mostly our own fault. We have been up late every night for weeks playing Diablo 4, the latest iteration of a video game that Rog has been playing for over 25 years! The new version was just released June 1st and we’ve both been staying up way past our normal bedtime gaming with our daughter Randi in Texas. We all have headsets and chat while we play. She is a diehard gamer girl; it was so much fun to play with her and she’s really good too!

Somebody put a lot of time and effort into these balanced rock cairns! 

We walked the short trails through the sage and wildflowers.

On top of our self-inflicted sleep deprivation, Raney had been getting me up at least twice a night, usually around 2am and again around 5am. Last Sunday morning she was cuddling with us on the bed and went to change position and let out a pitiful whine. We had no idea what she’d done, but she got very agitated was pacing, panting, and generally acting weird. Since all big dog parents live in fear of torsion and bloat, we quickly took her to the emergency vet. Luckily it was nothing serious, they thought she may have tweaked her elbow. Hurt herself lying in bed. Geesh. That’s something I thought only us old folks did. Lol. The vet gave her pain meds. Which gave her the runs. Which is why I’ve been up and down with her every night. We’d hoped when the meds ended it would quickly resolve itself, but we’re still doing our late-night strolls. Sigh. She’s getting lots of pumpkin and is on a bland diet for a few days. Hopefully that will do the trick. (Update: Happy to report that she made it through the night Wednesday and after a few more days was back to normal.  Yay!)

Riley in his origami mastiff pose, while Raney enjoys princess privileges on the bed.

Rog and I floated the river Tuesday, 6/27, and again on Thursday. We decided not to take Riley, with temps in the high 80’s and no shade on the water, he would broil. Both times we put in at Umtanum, which is about 7 miles upriver and took out right next to our campsite.

It's a fun float through the canyon.

We saw bald eagles and...

...deer coming down to drink at the river. 

Here's another wildlife sighting. Lol. 

Love the twisted basalt pillars.

Raney has never kayaked, so we worked on getting her accustomed to the boat. With the kayak tied in shallow water, I coaxed her in. She’s been in it on dry land, but this was her first time in the water. She wasn’t too keen on the unstable footing, but once she sat down, she was fine. She stayed in it for a few minutes and then decided this was boring. The Yakima River is a little too fast for a first kayaking adventure, so we didn’t get any further than the shallows on this trip. But progress was made!

Getting in was the hardest part.

Ok, we're all set!

Why aren't we going anywhere? This is boring!!

Remember I said we were leaving home to get Riley away from the bangs and booms of fireworks. So, what did we have at Big Pines? Afternoon thunderstorms! Lol. It’s not as bad as fireworks, but he still gets agitated. On Tuesday, a lightning strike started a range fire just over the hill across the river.  Aerial support, helicopters and waterbombers, came from Wenatchee to help put it out. We could see the smoke and fire glow from our campsite. 

Smoke rising across the river.

The fire glow was beautiful, but not a good sign.

On Wednesday, it looked like everything was pretty much under control. We went for a short drive to look at other put-in sites along the river and saw they were still running the helicopters with water buckets to put out hot spots. Riley was very interested in all the noisy aircraft overhead.

Still smoking Wednesday morning.

Riley tracked the copters dumping water on the fire.

Then later in the afternoon the wind kicked up again and all hell broke loose. The fire that had seemed a safe distance away was suddenly racing toward the campground. Folks were packing up and leaving as fast as they could. At first, we weren’t too concerned, but then the wind blew dense smoke and ash our way. Soon we could see flames on the hillside right across the river and were worried that the wind might carry embers across and start a fire on our side. We quickly packed everything up so we were ready to leave if the situation got any worse. Please note that by this time we were the ONLY idiots still in the campground. Lol.

In less than an hour the fire raced over the ridgeline.

A little too close for comfort.

Rog watches the fire approach as we frantically load up for a hasty retreat if needed.

On the upside, we got to see an amazing air show! DNR pulled out all the stops and there were multiple helicopters, water bombers, and a larger plane dropping fire retardant. For several hours they were scooping up water from the river right next to our campsite. It was very cool to watch, although a little close for comfort.

Fill the bucket, douse the flames, and return for another load.

Score! This was the hillside right across from our RV.

Lucky for us the wind shifted again and the fire moved up the hill and away from us. By nightfall, everything was under control and several campers had returned. The next day the DNR crews walked the hillside checking for hot spots, but the excitement was over. Rog and I felt confident enough to take the pups and drive into Yakima to visit Single Hill Brewing. We had a few excellent craft beers and a tasty dinner to celebrate a fiery, floaty week on the Yakima. Lol.

All is calm. You'd never guess the exciting days we had!

Single Hill Brewing - a fine place to celebrate. 

We departed Friday, 6/30, for Oregon to meet up with family and friends at Cottonwood Canyon State Park. We’ll be way out in the boonies on the John Day River for a hopefully quiet and uneventful 4th of July. Riley has had quite enough excitement, thank you very much.