Smoke gets in your eyes

Every flight is a learning experience and this one was quite unique! Today, my dad and I flew to Camrose, just to land and come back. It's just 20 minutes in the air one way. We had planned to go to Vegreville but when I checked the NOTAMs (notices), I found that the Vegreville airport was closed for the day. So, I pulled out my map and quickly checked the headings for Camrose instead. Once we took off, it turned out to be very, very smoky, due to the extensive forest fires in BC. If I had not had a GPS and had had to rely on my map for navigation, I probably would have turned back. Visibility was about 3 miles. I suppose I could have done it because I could have made sure I held my heading and gone from lake to lake until I was there but I felt much better setting the GPS for Camrose and following the line. Despite the smoke, I was actually able to spot the airport at Camrose fairly easily since coming in to there from Cooking Lake, you're pretty much looking straight down the runway. I find it awkward to join the circuit at Camrose because of the arrival path so I ended up doing a pretty crummy circuit at Camrose but still a beautiful landing. Heading home, I set the GPS again but could see Cooking Lake well enough in advance because it's a pretty big lake. Coming back, I did a beautiful circuit but a bouncy landing. Oh well. You can't win them all and everything is learning. This short flight taught me a lot!

Joseph Lake in the smoke, midway between Camrose and Cooking Lake