headed down to the field in the dark this morning, and went for a local sunrise burn before work. got some ok photos just with the phone there nothing to crash hot

Taking off and heading south over cape byron.



quite alot of whales about, saw about 20



put down on Evans Head beach for a bit of a leg stretch



Now these had me amazed, Ive spent many hours flying up and down the coast but have never seen these swirls, if anyone out there can tell me what cause's them I would love to know. The photos just don't do it justice, but they were huge and intense. the water was swirling at a huge pace, and the center was so harsh that the water was funneling down probably about a meter. And this was only about 30 meters off shore. There were rocks about but nothing to intense, and the rocks have always been there but never seen these!



coming back in read to go spend the rest of a day crawling around in a roof, yay!

DrifterDriver wrote:headed down to the field in the dark this morning, and went for a local sunrise burn before work. got some ok photos just with the phone there nothing to crash hot

Taking off and heading south over cape byron.



quite alot of whales about, saw


put down on Evans Head beach for a bit of a leg stretch



Now these had me amazed, Ive spent many hours flying up and down the coast but have never seen these swirls, if anyone out there can tell me what cause's them I would love to know. The photos just don't do it justice, but they were huge and intense. the water was swirling at a huge pace, and the center was so harsh that the water was funneling down probably about a meter. And this was only about 30 meters off shore. There were rocks about but nothing to intense, and the rocks have always been there but never seen these!



coming back in read to go spend the rest of a day crawling around in a roof, yay!

That's a classic rip current! Great photo!

AKT

Saw one of these behind Vancouver Isle, off the coast of BC. We went for a boat tour on the highest tide change of the year... tide coming in & around the N & S ends of the Isle, & when the water "met" it did lots of strange things. I saw a big log get sucked in (like a toilet flushing) and a minute later came shooting back up. "Rip tide" sounds like a good name for it!

I had to fly about 40 miles away to a solar power project I've got on the back burner, and figured I may as well drop in this 8600' site. A bit breezy up there but a good direction (no rotor) and the cows, though nearby, didn't get in the way. Why they would be up that high I don't know, same reason as me I guess, for the view?

A bit closer, I'm headed to the right of the snowbank, and yes, the foothills below offer more sites
Short final, I've been here before, so didn't waste too much time looking for hidden hazards, then again didn't get too complacent hopefully. The LZ was the top, to the right of the road, kind of a bare spot.
Landed, "my" mountain in the background, I can eyeball this site out the kitchen window. Now here's the punchline, it was almost a dead glide to my solar job, about 5K below, this pic shows the mt. site in the background.

courierguy wrote:I had to fly about 40 miles away to a solar power project I've got on the back burner, and figured I may as well drop in this 8600' site. A bit breezy up there but a good direction (no rotor) and the cows, though nearby, didn't get in the way. Why they would be up that high I don't know, same reason as me I guess, for the view?

A bit closer, I'm headed to the right of the snowbank, and yes, the foothills below offer more sites
Short final, I've been here before, so didn't waste too much time looking for hidden hazards, then again didn't get too complacent hopefully. The LZ was the top, to the right of the road, kind of a bare spot.
Landed, "my" mountain in the background, I can eyeball this site out the kitchen window. Now here's the punchline, it was almost a dead glide to my solar job, about 5K below, this pic shows the mt. site in the background.

Dammit the more you keep posting this crap, the sooner I'm going to head straight for Pocatello and pay you a visit!

Ha ha, just messing with ya Tyler! On a good snow year, some of these higher sites STILL wouldn't be open, last winter sucked snow wise, so at least it makes some of the higher places accessible, at least the cows think so.

Another flight into the Winds today at sunrise to look for sheep. One of the prettiest flights I've ever had. I had two video cameras going, and they both failed me. Guess I'll just have to go again...

You looking for sheep RP? What a coincidence, I just found some!

There I was, minding my own business while circling a 8800' cell tower site I've played on before (but not today, either better sense today, doubtful, the grass was much higher then the other time, or I spotted more big rocks then the first time ) when I spotted what I first thought was a pile of boulders in a grove of trees. Nothing was moving, a closer look showed the boulders had heads and feet, and then I put two and two together. Figuring someone had dumped a pile of dead sheep there, I got even closer. To my astonishment, these sheep were alive and just hanging out, seemingly not minding at all my close inspection.

Sheep, in my experience, are very airplane leery, and I always give them a wide berth, figuring the sheep herders I've met around here have a rough enough life. That's another thing, there was no sheep camp set up either, nobody or nothing, just these sheep way the hell up at 8700' or so. Some sheep expert educate me: were they so freaked they were huddled up, paralyzed? Didn't seem that way, they were licking themselves and otherwise appeared to be just hanging out. They were also already in the trees when I arrived, I didn't stampede them there.

I'm looking for Big Horns, but those would do in a pinch!

I'm guessing they're huddled up in the shade at 8K hiding from sun and lobos, not necessarily in that order.

Ranch Pilot
To hunt those sheep you need gumboots and a kilt, not a gun.

Fish Lake camp trip to get out of the heat.


Before heading down the other side of the pass to the hot springs...

Nootka Island, Calvin Falls, then hopped up to Catala Island but chickened-out after a couple of dummy runs at the south beach (tide was in), went a few miles further towards Brooks Peninsula and took a break on the beach at Rugged Point. Week before I was on Vargas Island, found another rag plane already there and dropped in for lunch.

Beautiful pics Karmutzen. Looks like a great area to fly.

You guys are probably getting sick of these pictures, but I had a flight this morning unlike anything I've ever experienced. Got some incredible video too (stay tuned).

Taken at approximately 12.5K


Also 12.5K




40 head of elk out on top in this meadow at about 10K. I've killed a bull and two cows up there and it was a long walk up and back for each one!


Never seen anything like this over the lake.


Square Top in the mist.


Screen grab from the vid.

Those are some awesome pictures Darren!

robw56 wrote:Those are some awesome pictures Darren!

x2!

Great pictures Ranch Pilot. Just wondering if you have ever landed on the road there, before you get to the lakes? Hunted there years ago & remember a ranch just before you get up there to the lakes?

Amazing pictures Darren, wow! You need a "Where did Ranch Pilot fly today" thread. Looking forward to the video.

Beautiful, RP!

RP, tremendous job capturing the scenery. That really is a wonderful sight.