I made it to Idaho Falls and finished my work there. Winds were blowing 23 knots on the surface at KIDA, but they were only 30 degrees crossed, so I departed for Missoula. My flight through the Beaverhead Mountains was bumpy, but the skies were clear and the views were spectacular. I arrived in Missoula on Thursday after 3 hours of cruising in the Mountains. The AOPA flyin didn't formally start until Friday, so all the exhibitors were still setting up, so I just wandered around the airport. I visited the Mountain Flying Museum and the Smoke Jumper Academy. Both very interesting. Then I noticed the National Weather Service facility and decided to stop in and chat with a meteorologist. That was my undoing. A massive Low was moving in from the gulf of Alaska and was sucking lots of moisture up from Hurricane Bud in Baja. The whole area was expected to be covered with thunderstorms on Saturday with 50 knot winds through Mullen Pass. That was my route through the Rockies to home. CRAP! If rain and high winds come along while I'm in my tent, I'll do my best to ride it out. I'm not big on staying in camp if I know nasty weather is coming and I can outrun it. So, my plans for Ryan Field and Schaefer Meadows got trashed. I packed up my gear early Friday morning and headed back west. I thought of stopping at Sullivan Lake (09S) on my way home, but normal afternoon thunderstorms blocked my way. I got to see a lot of impressive terrain, but didn't get to camp anywhere even remotely back country. CRAP. I have high hopes for later this summer, or early fall. Here's some highlight pictures of my flight though:
Here's my original flight plan with stops at Ryan Field and Schaefer Meadows being the last 2 stops before I headed home.
Here's Mount Rainier as I departed Puget Sound for Points east
A lovely mountain lake in the Cascades as I flew by
Palouse Falls out in the Washington Desert
The Wallowa Mountains above Joseph Oregon as I flew through that area
The Snake River not far from Weiser, Idaho
Some of the planes at the Mountain Flying Museum in Missoula. The Travel Air plane was one of the first ones used for smoke jumpers!
The Beaverhead Mountains between Idaho Falls and Missoula:
My campsite at the AOPA flyin in Missoula
The meteorologist at the NWS was running 4 different weather models on the raw data. All 4 models showed heavy storms, lots of rain and high winds in the mountain passes coming on Saturday.
Departing Missoula with Frenchtown in the valley below
The afternoon thunderstorms between me and Sullivan Lake
Crusing past a mountain lake in the Rockies headed home
Dry Falls in eastern Washington. The Columbia River used to cascade over these falls before the last ice age!
Another shot of dry falls. If you zoom in, you can see the C-117 just over the lip of the falls way below me. They were doing their nap of the earth flying that day. That's pretty good duty!
The Pallisades irrigated vally in Eastern Washington
Dust Devils over the landscape
Kachess Lake in the Cascades - getting close to home
My disappointing final route with no gras strips at all. Sigh!
Here's the weather I managed to avoid by leaving a day early. One of the intense yellow spots of heavy rain is right over Missoula. Departing early was still the right decision for me, but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about the missed opportunities to visit some other magical spots.
