I was one of the early arrivals on Friday, though--there were only about half a dozen there already. Made a nice, slightly downwind landing (prefer that and landing uphill instead of going around to go into only a tiny headwind but downhill--and the trees at the east end are closer together so arriving westbound is a bit more daunting). So the roll-out was a little longer than usual. But as an early arrival, I picked a truly primo spot--near to water (directly across the runway), close enough to the porta potti that it was handy but not so close that the door banging in the night would be obtrusive--pretty close to perfect.
Took my time setting up camp, then made lunch. Mostly just sat around the rest of the afternoon, but then a brute of a rainstorm came in, just as I was frying hamburgers for dinner--barely got the second one done before it was a real torrential downpour--definitely a benefit to a high wing! I sat eating, thinking, "Pretty soon Molly and I will need to retire to the tent to wait it out"--and that's what we did.
When the rain stopped, the last airplane of the day came in, a really nice Glastar, as it was almost dark. I helped them park it, and then, just as they started to put up their tent, it started to rain again--not as hard, though. This is a shot of them arriving:
Saturday morning, while I was making coffee and cappuccino, more airplanes came in. I shared the coffee so much with the neighbors that I didn't get any! I did get to have my cap, though. Then I fixed breakfast--scrambled eggs and sausage. Diane, one of the property owners is quite the photographer, and as I was stirring the eggs, I looked up and she was taking a picture of my "glamping"!
Here's my camp:
I had great plans for doing something constructive, like walking with Molly up to the town of Marble (it's about a mile past the end of the airstrip), but instead I found myself walking around with the neighbors who'd flown in last, chatting with other pilots and looking at airplanes--always something to talk about, it seems. Several people "knew" me from my posting on BCP--so it was fun to meet some whom I'd only known by their Internet handles. There were a total of 44 airplanes this year, down from last year's almost 60.
Isn't this a pretty place?
I fixed a ham sandwich for lunch, then Molly and I walked the airstrip. Last year we'd come upon a bear doing that, so this year I invested in a can of "bear spray"--but we didn't see any bears or even any sign of any. But the folks who maintain the property during the winter for the owners told me that they'd had 3 bear break-ins at their house this past Spring. These walks tend to tucker ol' Molly dog out more than they used to, but she loves it there:
With the on again, off again rain, the sky around sundown was just gorgeous:
Saturday night we had a barbecue, put on by a local bbq outfit--really, really good. And of course, lots more airplane talk with table-mates. It had rained again just before dinner, but the rain stopped and didn't start again until about half an hour afterwards, but that was just a gentle shower. Then there was the traditional bonfire with singing--the folks who maintain the property are also talented musicians--but the higher altitude and the little bit of exercise walking the airstrip just about did me in, so instead Molly and I turned in about 8:45--and I think I was out by 9. I heard that the singing and partying broke up about 2 a.m. when it started to rain again.
I woke up about 2 a.m., to the sound of all that rain, and everything was pretty wet this morning. I fell back to sleep before it stopped. Nice to have such a weatherproof tent!
After breakfast, the annual sheep run took place--I was told between 3000 and 5000 sheep, but all I can say is it was 2 flocks, and a huge total number, herded by 3 guys on horseback and 4-5 dogs--hard to keep track, because they're moving in and out of the flocks. By the time they'd all gone by, the grass on the strip was a neat 1 1/2" long, just about everywhere.
Gradually people departed, until I was the last one there. It was a little bittersweet to start breaking camp, when it's such a lovely place, owned by such really nice people--and I've enjoyed it so much each year I've been there.
Flying home required some diversions for weather. It was neat, having weather in the cockpit (ADS-B started working just about over Eagle, CO at about 10,000')--really helped to be able to see how it was moving, so I could decide whether it was safe to skirt around it one way or another. Got up to 14,000' for awhile, which was good, because my usual route (where I can stay at 12,000') was blocked by storms, but at 14 large, I was able to go over a pass just north of Longs Peak, making my route actually a bit straighter--only took 1+35 from take-off at Marble to landing at GXY. Of course, descending from 14,000' at a relatively slow rate of descent allowed me to build up the speed to just about 140 knots, which helped.
All in all, a really great weekend.
Cary
