Troy, OR

Photo credit: Wallowa County Chieftain

I haven’t been up close and personal with a wildfire, but last summer I was working in NE Oregon for ODFW doing salmon surveying. I was living in Joseph and working on the Grande Ronde river based in the tiny community of Troy (about 20 people) at the confluence of the Grande Ronde and Wenaha rivers. I was staying in a run down cabin above Troy on a plateau called Grizz Flats where the muzzleloaders club practiced once a month. The locals weren’t too happy about my presence along the river so I did my best to be friendly and eventually won them over. The ladies that were running the café at the Shilo Inn Lodge invited me for iced tea on the stoop some evenings and when the cabin had a propane leak one of the ranchers helped me out. 

            Eventually my time out there got cut short because of the heat. Everything around the canyon dried out as the rivers warmed and the fish died from the rising temperatures. One of my last days out there I went for a swim and the water was so hot it was unsettling, and the landscape turned into fuel waiting for ignition.  Everyone said they hadn’t seen the river drop that low that quickly in years. After I left the Grizzly Bear Complex fire almost devastated Troy, and they had hundreds of fire fighters living at the Wenaha Wildlife Area where I had camped along the river. Back home I was following the news about their conditions and daily updates, and it was surreal to recognize some faces in the media photos. Thankfully everyone came out safe, and I heard that old cabin at Grizz Flats burnt down.