The night was cold and put a nice layer of frost on everything. One gentleman reported that it was 15°F at 5am. I wasn't really expecting it to be that chilly, no wonder why my 30° bag seemed like a light blanket.
This poor sole managed to survive the night sleeping under the wing of his plane. I walked by him and the back of his head was frozen.
Cool shot of Shep
After breakfast, Blu, Nate and I took advantage of the crisp mountain air and went for a joyride around the Marble area. With a high pressure system in the area the air was extremely smooth and made for a great flight with great company.
Marble mines
Lake near 11,500
Crystal City Powerhouse
After the flight, I began to pack up as a few more planes arrived.
I loaded the plane and said my goodbyes and headed east back home. Shep was ready to get back home after spending a night in the freezing tent.
I headed SE from marble and made my way to La Plata Peak where I crossed the Continental Divide and from there descended down to the front range. The SE winds and turbulance were steadily increasing as I was passing through 11,5k. About 30 miles out I heard some chatter from the Bijou Bottom fly-in and decided to drop in for a visit.
I said HI to some old friends and watched some Cubs give rides to the local kiddos (the line was a mile deep and smiles were everywhere). Even though the fly-in was scheduled to end at noon, there were quite a few folks still left.
After an hour or so I lifted off for the 10 min flight back to the hangar. Both Shep and I were beat and the list of stuff to do at home was never-ending. We parked the plane, shut the hangar door, and jumped in the Jeep for the 1.5 hour ride back to 'the daily grind'.
Thanks again to the CPA and Gallegos for making this happen. It was nice to see Blu and Hicountry again, and met some wonderful folks for the first time. I also made up a donation can to pass around for those injured in the Marble crash a few months ago. Both Kelly and Jeryl are doing better, but still unable to work and progress is slow. (If you would like to donate anything, click on the link here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5881 )
Marble is a private airstrip and you MUST get verbal permission to fly into (You MUST sign a waiver too). Please don't abuse these privileges and ruin it for everyone. Glen and Diane don't ask for anything, and the least we can do is to respect their wishes.
And to those that went, please post up some of your pictures/videos.
. And as always, Glen and Diane welcomed us to their slice of heaven with open arms.
