I’ll try to meet up with you at one of your California stops... are you camping at Gravelly Valley and/or Shelter Cove?

robw56 wrote:I’ll try to meet up with you at one of your California stops... are you camping at Gravelly Valley and/or Shelter Cove?

Unfortunately not. To make things work, we are hoteling it in Crescent City. I’m hoping to stop by one or both...maybe a little lunch stop.

If it's between shelter cove and gravelly valley, go to shelter cove. Not even close.

There's a hundred more things to do, great fish and chips at the south end market and its way more pretty. Oh, and it won't be a 100 degrees.

Good camping right on the south end next to the market.

Idahomike wrote:If it's between shelter cove and gravelly valley, go to shelter cove. Not even close.

There's a hundred more things to do, great fish and chips at the south end market and its way more pretty. Oh, and it won't be a 100 degrees.

Good camping right on the south end next to the market.

Thanks Mike. We leave tomorrow. So much to do and so little time.

Grassstrippilot wrote:

Idahomike wrote:If it's between shelter cove and gravelly valley, go to shelter cove. Not even close.

There's a hundred more things to do, great fish and chips at the south end market and its way more pretty. Oh, and it won't be a 100 degrees.

Good camping right on the south end next to the market.

Thanks Mike. We leave tomorrow. So much to do and so little time.

Our plans have changed, and we may camp here tonight. Can you tell me more about camping and where you park? Are you camping at the RV place on the south end of the field? If so, how do you get your gear there, and how far is it?

Thanks.

Park at the south end, it is about 500 ft to the campsites, just walk along the edge of the taxiway into the camping area. Go over and pay at the store if they are still open when you get there. I have also parked at the far north end and just camped with the plane, not sure if that is encouraged or not though.

Watch for deer and golfers on the runway. Come in a little steeper to avoid downdrafts over the bluffs. Have the kids watch for whales as you come in, it is not uncommon to spot a pod under you in the pattern.

Have fun, wish I was there today!

CFOT wrote:
Park at the south end, it is about 500 ft to the campsites. I have also parked at the far north end and just camped with the plane, not sure if that is encouraged or not though.

Watch for deer and golfers on the runway. Come in a little steeper to avoid downdrafts over the bluffs. Have the kids watch for whales as you come in, it is not uncommon to spot a pod under you in the pattern.

Awesome. Thanks!

I posted this on my Adventures page, but thought I'd put it here too. Thanks for all the recommendations. It was a great trip. We left a lot undone though so we will need to go back to the area.


For our summer trip this year, we decided to go see a few things we've never seen before: Yosemite, the Redwoods, Tahoe, and for Dee and the kids, Crater Lake.

We flew from northern Utah to Lovelock for fuel, then over to Columbia. A pretty cool little town and a nice grass runway and campground. Rich Finkle and his wife met up with us there and walked downtown with us for some ice cream. For years I've heard, read, and watched all the stuff posted about Red Hills and always wanted to get over there. Rich gave them a call and we had a great afternoon sitting on their porch visiting and sharing stories with Jack and Myrna. It was awesome!

The next day we flew down to Yosemite. Breathtaking! We hiked the Misty Trail and Mirror Lake. We will be going back to do more. After two nights at Columbia, we moved over to Truckee to spend a few days at Tahoe. We did some hikes and visited the Vikingsholm. Unfortunately the forecasted winds were going to be 50 knots at 12,000' on the day we had planned to leave, so we left the evening before. It ended up being one of those flights were things just weren't working out. Our first stop for fuel in Oroville we found that the pumps were out of order. So we hopped over to Willows. We got fuel but now we were most likely not going to make Shelter Cove before the lady at the campground left. So, we decided to call it a day and go to a hotel. Some nice people from the crop dusters offered us a ride. When we got to the hotel that we had called, they told us that they just sold out. So, off we went walking to the next hotel after we fed the kids. It worked out but I was tired.

The next day we got to Crescent City after dodging some showers and spent the day checking out the redwoods. Very cool! Our last stop for the trip was Klamath Falls to visit Crater Lake. More stunning scenery. We had planned to go to Cowboy Dinner tree, but we couldn't get reservations. On our way home, we stopped at Rome Station for some awesome burgers. Their strip is in great shape and they are happy to have you drop in.

All in all, 16.5 hours flown in a week and a lot of beautiful country seen and memories made.



Lovelock was serious about not letting someone walk off with their ladder!


Columbia





Rich and I at Columbia.


Red Hills






Yosemite






Happy Burgers on our way back to Mariposa after hiking in Yosemite. Yum!


Tahoe


Eagle Lake near Tahoe


Vikingsholm at Tahoe


Dee cooking a casserole in our oven at Tahoe. Love that thing!



Picking our way around clouds and showers to Crescent City.




Redwoods



Playing on the rocks on the beach.


Crater Lake





Rome Station