The Great Smoke Escape

The month of September in Missoula has been full of smoke. The end of August we saw glimpses of smokey days, but eventually the breeze would clear the air and it would be beautiful again. It's been a hard and unexpected adjustment to spend the majority of our weekends indoors. Biking without a handkerchief over the mouth and nose results in wheezing and chest pains. Everything in our house smells like a campfire. The smoke is coming mainly from two wildfires. The Mustang Complex Fire (just over the Idaho border). This fire has consumed over 300,000 acres of forest. The other fire is an hour south in Hamilton. They have been waking up to 2 inches of ash every day.

This month we worked hard to make a bunch of cycling caps, bags, and baby clothes for the People's Market. The market coincides with the weekend Farmer's Market and nearly a hundred vendors sell their homemade wares. You can enter a lottery to sell for just one weekend. Last weekend was our last chance before our busy training weekends and the season's end. So, we braved the smoke and put out our wares. Unfortunately, Missoulians weren't willing to sacrifice their health for shopping (what is capitalist America coming to?).  We didn't sell a darn thing and by the end we both felt exhausted, nauseous, and frustrated from the smoke. We do, however, now have a surplus supply of goods if anyone is in the shopping mood.

Below is Dietrich at our little space. It's hard to tell from the photo how awful the smoke is, but remember this 1. It's not foggy. 2. We have zero humidity. 3. Missoula is rarely cloudy. So the haze is pure smoke.

Sunday we decided to escape Missoula and head north looking for blue skies. We drove along the Mission Mountains, past St. Ignatious and Arlee towards Flathead lake. 

 This church was built in the 1800's as a Catholic mission in St Ignatious.

 The Madonna and Christ   and Christ depicted as local natives

The original mission sleeping quarters

Here is Flathead. The smoke still present, but way better than Missoula.

We had church on the lake.

There aren't many designated swimming areas but ladders to the water are all along the shore.

 Dietrich showing off his cute smile and furry pits.

Our neighbor says we should count the smokey sunsets as a blessing.

Goodnight from Missoula.