This last weekend I made it down to Central Utah to do a little playing with Allen, Noreen, and Chuck. We had started talking about this trip last December so it was fun to see it happen! I had never been to either of these strips so it was nice to go with someone that had. Weather looked great until the day before when a weak front looked like it might ruin our fun. Come Friday morning, gusty winds and the threat of rain caused two other planes to bail, but Allen and I watched the weather for a few hours and decided that it was going to be doable. I'm so glad we didn't bail! It ended up being a great weekend!

We had planned on exploring some of the strips in the Tavaputs range, but with the front approaching, we decided it would be better to get on the ground at Mexican Mountain just in case the winds decided to kick up. Upon landing, at Mexican Mountain, I was surprised to see a 205 that I had looked at in Chicago parked there! Its new owner is out of BMC and it was good to meet him and his daughter. We did a couple of hikes to kill the afternoon and just enjoyed the place. It is amazing! Definitely my new favorite Utah camping spot!

The next morning with clearing skies and sun poking through, we took off for Hidden Splendor. That canyon approach is a blast! On the ground, we hiked down to the old uranium mine and checked it out. We had lunch there before heading back to the planes. On our way home we had to skirt a few patches of virga, but other than that the weather had been beautiful. After a quick fuel stop in Nephi, we parted ways to head home. Thanks to Allen, Noreen and Chuck for the great weekend! I'm looking forward to getting back down there soon!

Here are some videos and pics of the weekend. I had a new camera to try out as well as a few new mount locations as well. I've got some work to do on the audio in the plane, but otherwise they seemed to work out well. Enjoy!





The 205 at Mexican Mountain


Mexican Mountain




Petroglyphs at Mexican Mountain



Our Campsite


Departing Mexican Mountain



Hidden Splendor



Our hike down to the uranium mine.






Dodging a little weather on the way home.

Great trip report Cory. Two of my favorite UT strips as well.

Good stuff. Thanks, Cory.

Great TR Cory, I'm surprised you haven't been to either of these strips with them right in your backyard! I can't wait to get out there and do some flying again.

A lot of the reason has to do with previously being in flying club aircraft and a little more conservative of where I took them. So now I'm playing catch up!

Makes sense, I forgot about that. It's great having your own airplane now isn't it!

We had a blast on the trip. Chuck was so tired by the end that he slept from the moment we departed Hidden Splendor until we stopped for fuel, then at home he slept until noon the next day! So did Noreen....

The weather got a bit windy while we were on the ground in Mexican Mountain, and I'm glad we landed when we did. It can get really nasty in that canyon when the wind blows. We found some new petroglyphs that I hadn't seen before, and we dodged bats at night, but the bug count was low.

Hidden Splendor was good as always, we had a little tailwind coming in from the South through the canyon, which created some big down-drafts on short final. We were expecting it though, and came in a bit high which worked out well. We hiked South the the abandoned uranium mine, Noreen explored it a bit with the light from her phone (we were very well prepared), and Chuck had a great time playing in the river on the hike back to the airstrip. I took off to the North (uphill, climbing terrain) with a tailwind and we were ok, but it was less fun than I like. Cory wisely took off to the South and turned around before the canyon and the downdrafts. All in all, it was a great trip!

Here is a very short teaser of the trip:

That's a proper trip report!

Excellent trip report Cory and your new Tail-Cam is awesome.

I am truly jealous of the beautiful strips available to those out West.

Can you post a picture of your Tail-Cam?

Thanks guys! And thanks Allen for the additional detail.

I wish I would have had my camera on for the takeoff out of Hidden Splendor. It was interesting! Going towards the canyon, it was a quartering left headwind. Even though a left turn out would give me less room to maneuver, I saw that as better than the downdrafts in the canyon or a right turn out that would have given me a tailwind. As I made the left turn and started to lose the headwind, I eased the bank and lowered the nose (always a little hard close to the ground!). With the rising terrain, there momentarily was a good chunk of it in the windscreen, but I was light and the 205 performed well.

Here are some pics of the camera mount I made for the tail. It is simple. I just used the Drift mounts that came with the camera and counter sunk it in the center so that a #8 machine screw and a tinnerman would fit in it. I then use the screw on clip that comes with the camera to slide into the mount base. Easy and cheap to put on, and it is solid. I have three of these on the plane now.

Very nice Cory,

Loved the part when you flew down the San Raphael Reef. Thanks for the report. What an amazing part of the world.

Awesome tail mount idea...I never thought of that before. I'm going to try that tonight!

Great TR Cory and Allen. Looking forward to seeing those two strips in person someday soon.

Flynengr

Hey Corey -

I showed my wife your Hidden Splendor video and she says the Close Your Eyes song sounds Naughty

That's funny! I was looking for music and heard the "Close Your Eyes" part and liked the sound of the beat. Since I was in a hurry, I slapped it on. It wasnt until after I had put it up that i heard the "relax your boday" part. I figured the "close your eyes" part was kind of ironic because it's exactly what you would not want to do.

lesuther wrote:Awesome tail mount idea...I never thought of that before. I'm going to try that tonight!

Thanks guys.

Let me know how yours works out. There is still a little but of the vertical stab showing but I can live with that...or I could look at fixing a small wedge to angle the camera out. This one trial flight was :43 long and I've used my underwing mount as well and had no problems. Quick, easy, and cheap.

flynengr wrote:Great TR Cory and Allen. Looking forward to seeing those two strips in person someday soon.

Flynengr

Come on over and we will play Scott!