Finally I'm getting some pics on here. We decided a few weeks ago to get one more trip up north in before my wife (6 months pregnant) wouldn't want to camp any more. The weather was perfect with just a little haze from some of the few fires that had been going on. We left Monday morning and went to Johnson Creek via Smiley Creek, Stanley, Bruce Meadows, and Landmark. When we were taxiing out, I saw that the Forest Service's Doug was taxiing in. Right after we became airborne, I heard them on frequency and asked if a friend of mine was flying. It ends up he was and I told him I was heading north. He responded that they too were headed north in about 30-45 minutes. He told me to be listening on 123.45 in about that time and he would call me.
By the time I was getting to the Walcott Lake area east of Burley, ID, I heard him come on frequency and ask for my position. We talked for a while and by the time we were approaching Carey, ID, he was 5 miles behind me at my altitude. He slowed to about 10 kts faster than my speed and slowly moved past my right wing. It sure was pretty seeing that beautiful aircraft like that. Once they were past me, the continued on to McCall and I turned to head over Galena Summit.
Arriving in JC, we found only a couple of aircraft on the ground. A barron from San Jose area landed just before us. We got our favorite camping/parking spot and, after getting some lunch and camp set up, we spent the rest of the day down on the beach by the bridge. Adam was more than content to throw rocks into the river. We ran into a fellow that we had met last year in Jackpot during a fuel stop and spent some time talking to him. A real nice guy.
At 8am the next morning, it was 43 degrees and kind of chilly. We had breakfast and headed over to Thomas Creek for the day. Arriving there, we met the volunteer caretaker, Bruce, as we were getting out of the plane. We were headed to the Sunflower Flat hotspring and, since we hadn't been there before, he made sure we knew where to go. It was an easy hike through some beautiful country. At the spring, there were already a bunch of rafters there making use of the hot water. In a while they were gone and we just hung out and let Adam throw more rocks into the river. After a few hours, we hiked back and waited out the afternoon winds down by the river. Bruce invited us into his cabin to cool off and to refresh our water supply. It was hot and much appreciated.
About 6:30pm the winds died down and we took off for JC. Got back, made dinner, and went for a walk. We had noticed a pretty 185 when we landed and thought it looked familiar. It belonged to a nice gentleman we met last summer and we spent a while at their camp talking to them. A few more planes had arrived and we met 2 couples from Afton, WY that invited me over to check out their grass strip. It was a great evening of just hanging out and meeting some good people.
The next morning we got up and flew over to Smiley Creek for breakfast. Then we headed south to Gooding for fuel ($3.69) and then headed home. It was a great couple of days...too short though. I'm so lucky to have a wife that loves to do this, even when 6 months pregnant. She is a real trooper. Can't wait for the next trip.
Anyway, here are some pics. Hope you enjoy.
On our way...Adam slept all the way there.
Forest Service DC-3 off our wing.
Just south of JC.
On the ground and unpacking.
Dinner and a movie.
Evening walk...Adam liked the cones.
Thomas Creek Approach
Sunflower Flats Hotspring.
Waiting out the afternoon winds at Thomas Creek.
I was trying to figure out if I could fit it into a 182 or a 206 but I haven't measured them myself yet. There is a few runs in Idaho that have a strip on each end. The one I really want to do is Loon creek; put-in at upper loon take out at lower loon. South fork of the Salmon would also work but it would take carrying the boats a little. There is a few others but the best one is Loon.
But $5,600.00 Holy crap!
