Okay,
We went back to the Rogue and into Agness last Sat. to hike the lower Rogue trail.

A few notes:

Calm and cool day but still some pretty good sink over where the Illinois River joins the Rogue river.

Power Lines without Marker Balls over (yes over) the Agness Bridge. They are very hard to see and gain elevation as they travel west over the river/bridge. West is to your left as you are on Final.

If you give yourself room over the powerlines, it feels like you are high for landing. This does not seem to be a problem as the strip is up hill (rolling).
So, Give yourself lots of room over the power lines as this is where the "Sink" is as well.

This Airstrip is deceptive from circling above. It looks fairly flat and basic.....
Respect this airstrip.

Good info on the strip Brent...Also beware of multiple deer at any time....wind socks located at road in the middle of the strip and also one down at the River end.

River Flyer

Brent

I have heard of a guy doing an approach UNDER the bridge and giving a boost of power to CLIMB up to the runway....


I don't think that I would recommend that approach........

Brian

Brian - Steve's Aircraft wrote:I don't think that I would recommend that approach........

Your dad told me a story the day I was over at your shop, about this guy with a Cub who flew into Agness to fish. He didn't have a parking brake, and while he was down at the river he heard a crashing sound and ran up to find his plane had gone off into the trees backwards.

Hey Brent,

Thanks for all the good info on the Agness strip. I was actually over there that same day farting around (didn't see your post until I got back.)

The air felt a little wonky to me that day, so I didn't land, but I did get a good view of the bridge!

Oregon180 wrote:Hey Brent,

Thanks for all the good info on the Agness strip. I was actually over there that same day farting around (didn't see your post until I got back.)

The air felt a little wonky to me that day, so I didn't land, but I did get a good view of the bridge!

I am no expert on Rogue river flying but one thing that I have noticed the last several times I have flown there: If it is Windy on the Coast, the river canyon can be bumpy/turbulent. Several weeks ago it was blowing from the north about 10-15mph over the beach and was turbulent from the mouth to about halfway to Agness. Last Sat. it was blowing harder on the coast and Turbulent to just a few bends down river from Agness. The Agness area was fairly smooth when I went in about 3pm. We came from up river when arriving and the air was still. When I took off about 5pm I thought I would head home up the coastal route. We departed and headed down river and ran into very rough air. We climbed and turned around heading up river to gain altitude and it smoothed out.

Anyway, no rocket science here.....just my observations.

Brent

River Flyer,

I was looking at the field w/ the sock in it on the illinois as we were approaching Agness. My dad said that he had heard that the guy that owns that property approaches under the bridge. Is this true? I did not see an obvious mowed area or "strip"

I am not looking to land there, just curious.

Brent

Hey Brent ...He use to land flying up the Rogue River under the Lucas lodge water line under the Illinois River Bridge and onto his meadow but he now flies a helicopter and drops right into his place.

River Flyer

River Flyer wrote:Hey Brent ...He use to land flying up the Rogue River under the Lucas lodge water line under the Illinois River Bridge and onto his meadow but he now flies a helicopter and drops right into his place.

River Flyer

Interesting Approach!

Was just telling a friend about this strip and dredged up this thread. I miss these kind of posts.

Is this the strip where the Lucas Lodge is located ? And do you need permission to land there ?


Cool Video . Definitely go under the bridge and power lines




Josh

Dog is my Copilot wrote:Is this the strip where the Lucas Lodge is located ? And do you need permission to land there ?


Cool Video . Definitely go under the bridge and power lines




Josh

Yes. They appreciate it if you call Lucas Lodge prior to arrival.

Is the lodge an overnight only place or can I fly there and get a $300 hamburger? It looks like a special place.

akschu wrote:Is the lodge an overnight only place or can I fly there and get a $300 hamburger? It looks like a special place.

They used to serve breakfast to the fly in crowd. I am uncertain about what they currently offer.

I was there briefly in February, and they asked that we call first, so my best recommendation is to ring them up. They have been very welcoming in the past.

And, yes it is a very nice spot.

The Flat Fire started Saturday near the Oak Flat campground on the Illinois River 3 miles south of Agness. Northeast winds so far have limited spread north toward Agness. This morning the IR flight shows 15,217 acres.

Link to the story on Wildfire Today https://wildfiretoday.com/2023/07/18/or ... takes-off/

Link to Incaweb https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-infor ... -flat-fire

Copy and paste these coordinates in the search box in Google Earth or Google maps. 42 30 57, -124 02 14 They will put you at Oak Flats on the Illonois River Three miles south of Agness. You can zoom around and look at the Area. 42 30 57, -124 02 14

The previous fire scars are mostly the Biscuit Fire in 2002.

Looking north


Lucas Lodge Airstrip


Looking west. 13 miles to the pacific ocean at the mouth of the Rogue River

Really bummed about this fire. Glad to see that Agness and the surrounding structures appear to be ok at this point!

Our mountain bike club as been working pretty hard on opening up the existing trails in the area that the fire is burning. It looks like those trails will be gone at this point, unfortunately.

Of course human life and structures are way more important than trails and trees, but it is sad to see prime recreation area burning up

There was no IR flight last night do to cloud cover over the fire. That's a good thing. Here's links to Remote Weather Automated Stations (RAWS) in the Area. 100% Relative Humidity, 52 degrees F, and light winds in Agness this morning.

Agness https://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droma ... 3&time=GMT

Quail Prairie Lookout https://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droma ... 3&time=GMT

Yesterday's IR with Lookout Location Pins. Coordinates if you want to zoom in on google earth to see what the area looks like today.
Wild Horse 42 28 15.88, -124 09 35.22 Snow Camp 42 20 37.92, -124 09 55.66 Quail Prairie 42 14 31, -124 02 44.93



Wild Horse Lookout. I took this Photo when I was working on the biscuit fire in Oct 2002 The cab collapsed from heavy snow during the winter of 2007/2008. The Sand Mountain Society Removed the cab the following summer. Only the superstructure remains.


The Historical Snow Camp Lookout burned by the Biscuit Fire 2002. The fire team had wrapped it in foil to protect it. After the fire burned through the Operations Chief flew over it in a helicopter and it was still standing, but they didn't land. The Forest Supervisor Flew up there the next day and it was gone. That often happens with foil wrapped structures. You have to get back in on the ground within 30 minutes after the fire passes and check for and smoldering fire under the foil. The Forest Service rebuilt it in 2004 and uses it as a rental cabin. I took the burn photo but snagged the Rental cabin photo off Rex,s Fire lookout site https://www.firelookout.com/


Snow Camp Rental Cabin


Quail Prairie Lookout. I took these photos when I was working on the Craggie Fire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in Sept 2001. The roof was also crushed by heavy snow in the winter 2007/2008.

IR taken Yesterday morning , July 22, shortly after midnight. 18,463 acres.



Zoomed out

This morning's IR shows 22,066 total acres burned. The long narrow line of fire on the west end is burn out. They started at Wild horse lookout a couple days ago and continue to the southwest along Forest Service road 3318 on the top of Wild Horse Ridge as conditions allow.



Zoomed out


The Kalmiopsis Wilderness Map


Wild Horse Ridge and Road 3318 upper left

This mornings IR Flight shows 24,329 Acres. Here's my educated guess on tactics. They have put a "Hook", to hook the fire on the southwest end by burning out along Forest Service Roads.



The burnout started at Wildhorse Lookout on the northwest end of the fire, then progressed south and south west along the 3318 road along Wildhorse Ridge to the junction with road 3680 one mile east of Sugarloaf Mountain. Then southeast on road 3680 to Fairview Mountain. Another burnout is progressing south from Saddle Mountain along the 3680 road. About 10 miles total has ben completed There is about 4 or 5 more miles to burnout along road 3680 to enclose the hook.