Spruce Run Camping and the Perseids
by Monica Orso
Mon-Wed, August 11-13, 2025
"A meteor! NO, A lightning bug! NO A meteor! Lightning bug! Meteor!
Plane? Lightning bug! Meteor! Definitely Plane! WOW! Oooh ahhhh! Meteor!"
So this was how the conversation went for about an hour or so on the beach Tuesday night during a small window of darkness between sunset and moonrise. Because of the fullness of the moon we had an early meteor watch...normally the Perseids are best seen in the wee hours of the morning but the sky would have been too bright at that time. Due to low water levels we were able to set our chairs and recliners right on the beach giving a nice view of a large swath of sky. The sky did not disappoint, despite all the crafty lightning bugs trying to fool us. The burning chunks of rock originated from all directions, most streaking so fast that if you blinked you missed it. They seemingly showed up in spurts with long periods of nothingness in between (this is where the lightning bugs took advantage of us). One fantabulous monster rock held on to the sky for a huge sweeping sparkling show from left to right, you couldn't miss it. This of course drew ooohs and aaahs from the crowd. A little later another big bad boy did almost a repeat performance, but most missed it because they were looking at the rising moon that had just poked it's head up over the trees. As it was a long day, we retreated to our tents as the moon rose feeling satisfied that the Perseids mission had been accomplished.
The 3 day, 2 night Spruce Run camping excursion started around noon on Monday with members arriving at different times during the next 24 hours. We had reserved 2 campsites and added a third on Tuesday to reduce the hassle of extra cars in the overflow lot. Two campsites were waterfront, one of which had a serious groundhog hole situation...but still plenty of room for tents. The campground area was sparsely populated so it was pretty quiet and peaceful. One camper down the road had a bonfire so large that it was troubling, Phil even saw the camper spraying something on the fire to make it bigger. Dave reported it in the morning to a park ranger who said she went over there and the people had left already but didn't fully extinguish the fire. It was good to hear that they said they intended to track down the campers from their registration papers. It's no wonder wild fires are so common when you throw brainless humans in the mix.
The algae bloom situation was not as bad as expected, although you could see it in spots. The swimming beach was closed for the season which may have accounted for the quietness of the campground. We did mostly short paddles on calm water, with the heat of the day limiting our unshaded activity. At times it was like we had the whole reservoir to ourselves. Dave and Heidi opted for a bike ride on the Columbia Trail on Tuesday, Heidi having to leave early. I played around with the sail on my kayak and Phil gave me pointers, but fact of the matter was there was barely enough wind to catch a ride. Sights on the water were the usual ducks, blue herons, small shorebirds etc, but we did see one heron that we think was a juvenile tri-colored heron, he blended quite nicely with the trees and was hard to photograph. First one I've seen in these parts! We passed a few stationary objects that appeared to be monitoring devices...not sure what exactly they were monitoring though. The only thing I figured out was that all the little spikes on it were probably to prevent birds from landing. Mid afternoon was take it easy time, and then an early evening paddle. Jim M drove down and joined us for this and a spot of dinner before taking off. Ted and Christine had arrived with a fancy car top tent and Ted with guitar in hand...many thanks to him for re-stringing my first guitar right then and there, now 55+ years old! We didn't do a campfire, so singing around the fire was not an option. But we had meteors to hunt down anyway, which as mentioned did not disappoint. Checkout on Wednesday was by noon so we took our time packing up. Spruce Run is a great place for a quick getaway, especially during the week, and the cost is reasonable. Hot showers, flush toilets, and a designated dish washing station made camping a little easier for those not wanting a primitive camp situation too.
All in all, a very lay back and pleasant few days with good company, good weather, good paddling and biking, and of course, good meteors!
Thanks to Phil, Robyn, Heidi, Tom, Dave, Ted, Christine and Jim for a great outing!
Monica