A couple of days ago a friend and I flew down to Mexican Mountain for a picnic lunch and to do some exploring. On our way we flew over Cedar Mountain to see if the snow was still there that had been reported a week or so ago on FB. The snow was gone and the runway looked pretty wet in some spots. We were surprised to find a plane there and the pilot called us on the radio to let us know that it was soft and that a vehicle had driven up it recently and left some ruts down the middle of the strip. We thanked him for the pirep and continued on to MM for lunch.

MM is in great shape. Not long after we landed, the plane from Cedar Mountain landed and we had a nice lunch visiting with that couple from Heber. The gentleman is originally from Kenya and runs several safari operations in various parts of the world. After lunch, we walked down to see the petroglyphs and then took off for Hidden Splendor. On the way, I flew over Mackey Flat to scope out possible access to a canyon just to the east of there. Anyone landed there recently...or at all? Hidden Splendor looked like it was in great shape, but we passed on it due to the breeze out of the southwest.

From there we ran down to Dirty Devil. I hadn't been there and wanted to check it out. With a wind out of the south, we had the option of either landing downhill with a headwind or uphill with a tailwind. I opted for the first option. Pretty cool little strip with what looks to be a new windsock. I'd like to go back with some time to explore a bit. Then it was time to head home with a 20-30 mph tailwind most of the way.

Overall a nice day of flying. The only downside was the new two rock dings I picked up in my horizontal stab!



Not a lot of snow on those Northern UT mountains!


Mexican Mountain



Dirty Devil looking south.


Dirty Devil looking north.


Dirty Devil from above.


The obligatory selfie.

Very cool, I'm glad to see that the new sock at Dirty Devil is doing it's job!

Oh yeah! You guys went and put that up not too long ago, right? Thanks!

Grassstrip,
Three planes (4 pilots) camped at Mex Mt Monday night, Landed Hidden Splendor and camped at Hubbard Tues night. Landed Mineral Canyon Wed, then back home thru the 46mph wind along the Wasatch Front:

Good for you guys! I'm ready to do some camping.

Awesome Cory. Looks fun. I remember your buddy from our flight. I can't seem to catch a break from work right now but I will catch up with you soon. Thanks for sharing.

SkySteve wrote:Grassstrip,
Three planes (4 pilots) camped at Mex Mt Monday night, Landed Hidden Splendor and camped at Hubbard Tues night. Landed Mineral Canyon Wed, then back home thru the 46mph wind along the Wasatch Front:

Very cool Steve. Who owns that Blue Bearhawk? I saw it in S-12's video and it looks sweet. My favorite color...

Grassstrippilot wrote:The only downside was the new two rock dings I picked up in my horizontal stab!

Get yourself some Abrasion Boots.
That will cure the smaller dings.
And maybe make the bigger ones not as bad???

Very cool Steve. Who owns that Blue Bearhawk? I saw it in S-12's video and it looks sweet. My favorite color...

TwoSixLeemer,
The Bearhawk is owned by my neighbor. He flies it out of Morgan, UT. We flew into Mineral Canyon and S-7 was there. It was great to meet him. And, yes, he did finish his video with our departure.

TangoFox wrote:

Grassstrippilot wrote:The only downside was the new two rock dings I picked up in my horizontal stab!

Get yourself some Abrasion Boots.
That will cure the smaller dings.
And maybe make the bigger ones not as bad???

Yup. I think I'm going to have to revisit this topic with my mechanic and see what kind of a project it is. I'm guessing the abrasion boots would still be less than the STCed rock deflectors. If I remember right, those are kind of spendy.

SkySteve wrote:

Very cool Steve. Who owns that Blue Bearhawk? I saw it in S-12's video and it looks sweet. My favorite color...

TwoSixLeemer,
The Bearhawk is owned by my neighbor. He flies it out of Morgan, UT. We flew into Mineral Canyon and S-7 was there. It was great to meet him. And, yes, he did finish his video with our departure.

That Bearhawk sure looked and sounded sweet. As did Steve's Kitfox and the Super Cruiser.. Interestingly enough, the Kitfox got off the fastest of the 3 and climbed the best. At least initially. It was nice to meet you all.
Hope to see you all again soon.

Great trip Cory, camping season is just around the corner. I'm glad to see that 205 getting used to its full potential.

TangoFox wrote:

Grassstrippilot wrote:The only downside was the new two rock dings I picked up in my horizontal stab!

Get yourself some Abrasion Boots.
That will cure the smaller dings.
And maybe make the bigger ones not as bad???

Hey Trent,

Do you know how much the boots run and who sells them? I thought I had that info but am not finding a whole lot of good info on the Internet.

Thanks,
Cory

mountainmatt wrote:Great trip Cory, camping season is just around the corner. I'm glad to see that 205 getting used to its full potential.

Thanks Matt! Good to hear from you. We need to arrange a backcountry play date...for the kids and us!

Grassstrippilot wrote:

TangoFox wrote:

Grassstrippilot wrote:The only downside was the new two rock dings I picked up in my horizontal stab!

Get yourself some Abrasion Boots.
That will cure the smaller dings.
And maybe make the bigger ones not as bad???

Hey Trent,

Do you know how much the boots run and who sells them? I thought I had that info but am not finding a whole lot of good info on the Internet.

Thanks,
Cory

Never mind. Found them. They part number had been superseded twice and I was only finding the first new number. Called Yingling and they got me the latest number. $138. Do believe I'll be ordering them shortly!

Pete at MiddleFork Aviation installed them on a friends plane. Could be worth a call to see what and how much.

Grassstrippilot wrote:
Hey Trent,

Do you know how much the boots run and who sells them? I thought I had that info but am not finding a whole lot of good info on the Internet.

Thanks,
Cory

Never mind. Found them. They part number had been superseded twice and I was only finding the first new number. Called Yingling and they got me the latest number. $138. Do believe I'll be ordering them shortly![/quote]

Glad you got is sorted out!

All it takes is a log book entry and a W&B & equipment list change.

Easy deal.

Added a short video of some of the flying last week to the original post above. You can see the ruts in Cedar Mountain. Hopefully they aren't too bad.

Abrasion boots arrived today and will be going on Monday!!!

Grassstrippilot wrote:Added a short video of some of the flying last week to the original post above. You can see the ruts in Cedar Mountain. Hopefully they aren't too bad.

Abrasion boots arrived today and will be going on Monday!!!

Nice video Cory!

I have a friend up here that tells a story about going into the Dirty Devil strip early in his flying career when he was in Colorado.
He took a friend with him in a 172 on a fairly warm day.
He now and forever has new respect for that strip!

It can get soft and short!
(the softer it gets, the shorter it gets)

He may or may not have needed to change out the upholstery due to brown stains after takeoff !!!

TangoFox wrote:I have a friend up here that tells a story about going into the Dirty Devil strip early in his flying career when he was in Colorado.
He took a friend with him in a 172 on a fairly warm day.
He now and forever has new respect for that strip!

It can get soft and short!
(the softer it gets, the shorter it gets)

He may or may not have needed to change out the upholstery due to brown stains after takeoff !!!

Haha. Lavar has a story about taking a Eurpoean couple into Dirty Devil in a 172. On takeoff he realized his mistake and ended up chasing the kayakers down the river until he could get out

Its any wonder why we spend so much time and money on engine mods..