Flew cascade to Pocatello yesterday. Really bad smoke.
Today is much better. Great visibility in the cascade area.

Yea, I'm sitting at IDA right now. It's not great but not horrible. Hope it gets better as we move NW ward.

I'm hanging with the Blue Angels in the FBO! Did you know they let kids fly those jets!!





I'm getting old

CW

The smoke cleared up pretty good for most of the trip between Idaho Falls and Lewiston until about 50 miles out of Lewiston. The plane that landed before me reported runway in sight at 3.2 miles out.

I heard a couple of people named Mike on frequency enroute, where any of those you Idahomike? One sounded like a New Zealander (?).

Thanks again for the updates. Headed back to Central Oregon in the morning.

CW

I can't add anything except it's been real smoky for a long time around Pocatello, and about everywhere else I've been! Decent, lots better, north of Ennis or so.

I ran into a late afternoon T storm hiding in the smoke the other day, I was fully aware that I may have been getting suckered in, but since it remained OK behind me I kept poking my nose into it. The first spatter of rain combined with some bumps and I was outa there and making a precautionary landing, the gust front hit about 45 minutes after I tied down and set the tent up. The tent laid over and felt like it might roll away but didn't, the plane was secure, I made sure to land by a good fence, far away from anything, especially cattle. It rained hard but briefly, no leaks! Next morning I proceeded, I was planning to camp out anyways, just not at that site. No big deal, I've done it before, better then getting in trouble, and why it's nice to have a big tired slow landing plane with plenty of gear onboard.

Good strategy, Tom!

New fires near Ennius, and big ones in Glacier Park. At some point we’ll have fires in every quadrant, and that’s when it makes no difference which way the wind blows.....visibility will suck no matter.

Tom’s experience highlights one of the serious issues with flying in smoke......you may not be able to see thunderstorms in time to avoid them. I spent a lot of time slithering around in smoke and on one occasion, I was working my way downstream (and downhill) in pretty limited visibility. Duh! Suddenly, I went from very bright grey to rather dark.......meaning there were suddenly lots of cloud above me. Which is when the ass whipping began. Nothing broke, but the seat cushions got a serious workout.

Another “feature” of smoke: You take off in limited visibility, but clear blue sky right up above.....or so it appears. So you climb, fully expecting to quickly get on top, and cruise to your destination in clear skies. But, about the time you reach 12,500 msl, you realize that the vis up here is just as bad, and now you can no longer see the surface.....ie: You are now IMC. That climb to blue thing MAY work early in the morning, before the smoke is lifted by convection.

There are lots of ticks and traps that can surprise you in smoke.

As Tom said, take plenty of supplies, camping gear, etc, and be prepared to spend a week at least, somewhere you didn’t plan to stay. And always keep an “out” in your back pocket.

Be careful out there.

MTV

A fire started 2 days ago approximately 1-2 miles north of Sulphur Creek. It has run over Morgan Ranch’s private strip but appears to have spared the buildings. A TFR went up today. Needless to say but sulphur creek is closed.