Gotta make it up there again soon. Zzz, you should come along.

Fun trip with my wife to the NW USA.

Orcas, Tieton, Cavanaugh Bay, Johnson Creek, Alvord, Packwood and home. Even got a 170 fly in at Friday Harbour on the way home. Great weather, met some nice folks and saw some cool planes.

Nice, Charlie. Good go of it. Everything looks so green right now, like it's actually June.

cdgarg wrote:Gotta make it up there again soon. Zzz, you should come along.

I'm down. Have to let the wife recover from this last trip. Leaving her at home with the kids while I played in AK for 1.5 weeks isn't exactly winning me points here.

Nice trip up Bute inlet to look at the big slide in Elliot Creek. Landed at the Bute strip, just been mowed and met two old school BC loggers. Great stories.

Heard Chuck sold his house/cabin to the Indian band, so wondered who was still there and if they were taking care of the strip. Did you get up to look at Scar Creek?

Karmutzen wrote:Heard Chuck sold his house/cabin to the Indian band, so wondered who was still there and if they were taking care of the strip. Did you get up to look at Scar Creek?

Yes he has left. The loggers were both pilots and they had mowed the strip but said that it will probably deteriorate in the future. Its in superb shape now. Alder grows fast up there.

Did not look at Scar creek(if thats the one further up the Homathko?) but it was in V poor condition 4 years ago.

Did look at the one on the N side near the entrance to Bute (Mohs creek??) and half of it looked good but under 1000’ I am guessing. The back half had piles of brush dumped on it.

Sad to hear Chuck sold out from Bute Inlet. Met him some years ago. Great guy. Super friendly. Awesome strip. Beautiful country.

Been down for a while with a lost medical. Just got it back and super excited to be flying again. My son looked after the plane while I was out and finished his commercial.

Bit of a bucket list spot for me, the Bridge River Glacier. Went on my own light the first day, then back with my honey and stayed the night. Special spot. A little soft (should have put Baby bushwheel on) and bit rough, but overall a stunning spot. Bugs, but they seemd to be dumb ones, flew around a lot but didn't bite much.
Over the ridge coming in from west

Looking back West

Flowers

The Strip, about 1100 ft at 4,500 ft high.

Crossing the creek

Ok it aint Alaska, but BC is pretty too

Great report on the Bridge Glacier. Good to see there's still some icebergs calving off the glacier. Tyax Lodge used to run tourists there in their Beaver, but I heard it crashed last week somewhere nearby.

Always see lots of tracks but no critters, you spot any overnighting?

https://fb.watch/ez80d8AvDs/?fs=e&s=cl

Nothing bigger than a bug. lots of deer, some Moose tracks but nothing scary. Still hung food:)

Its the Texada fly in this weekend, hope to see you Guido?

HSF 2022 Getting there.

I took two weeks off around HSF, spent my usual week getting there but came back slowly as well. My son came with.

Cleared customs at Eckhart International, cool grass strip just over the border, then taxi up to the Customs post.

Then Memaloose, always wanted to go there but it is often wet. Super impressive takeoff with a BIG dropoff. There had been fires around it.


And looking off the South end.


Fuel at Enterprise then Johnson Creek for the night. Two other Canadian planes only. Warm and nice.


Warren Idaho for breakfast the next day, a really cool old pioneer mining town.


Then Payette to Visit Tim QMDV who took us to the Taco truck and groceries. Nice airport with a shower and a car.
On to Alvord which was amazing. Blowing 20 when we got there but calmed down and a full moon. Warm too. Hot spring entry has gone up to $20, but they are really nice...


Denio junction for breakfast.


Dropped tent at Dead cow, then Tahoe for a visit and a shower.

My radio tuning knob was getting progressively looser and Sean at Sierra Aero fixed it for us super fast and reasonable.

Dead Cow the following day.

More to follow.

HSF was different this year. Less planes, more motorhomes and spectators. Met a guy with a Maule who drove in because he was afraid of getting it dusty. Still nice to see old friends, but far fewer interesting planes. Lots of young pilots which is encouraging. STOL drag has got much more polished, but no real competition for Steve Henry. He is a class act.

Kyle Bushman brought the Backcountry Rev 3 cub which was very impressive with some cool ideas, and he looked super comfortable in it.

The RV15 was interesting, and the test pilot (Axel?) was very knowledgeable and informative. It really is still a work in progress but its going to be great in the end. A modern 170. Projected speed on 6.00s was 149knots I think!!

I think my favourite was the J3, I hope MAX gets to rebuild it.


Our personal chef came again - thanks mate.


Had some great flying out in the Blackrock, with hikes and friends from BC.



Bruno's in Gerlach is a great stop too.



A night in Vegas for a shower was culture shock.


Then Escalante. What a gem, shower, wifi, car and a really cool cook shed. The RAF sure got this right.


Hidden Splendor is impressive with the approach through the gorge, then on to Mineral Canyon which was flooded so no go. Stopped at Angel Point which looked rougher from the air than it actually was. Either strip was good.


A night at Smith Prairie just outside Boise.


Lunch in Ellensburg then customs at Penticton. Vernon, then Merrit. We had not looked at weather for two weeks, and Hope was showing 3/4 mile in smoke and 3700. Snuck through in the afternoon in about 3 miles vis.

Then home the same day.


Really great trip, about 35 hrs flying between the two of us, and awseome weather.

Hidden Splendor approach

Did you hit the "Baum Shelter" while in Warren?

Not OP but I have been to the Baum Shelter many times. That place is amazing when you have been living off your back for a week in the Frank Church.

How many here have flown into Warren? I havent ever flown in there. The two crashes this past year sort of have me spooked. They look failed go arounds on 12 from reports. Are most approaching it from up Warren Creek?

skyward II wrote:Ddi you hit the "Baum Shelter" while in Warren?

No we didn't know about it. The restaurant was open for lunch only, and run by a real character. She said she would do breakfast for groups if they called ahead.

We landed 12 took off 30. Lots of room to climb over the tailings area to the north and the approach on the 12 end is open. Surface was good.

The west coast beaches never fail to dissapoint. Had friend on his way to Alaska and my son in his Citabria.

Saw a wolf who was just curious. These West Coast wolves are very different, much less leggy.

Missed you at the beach by a day, Charlie. Nice looking Citabria. Waiting for the snow to come off Bridge.