Did some camping last week at Chamberlain Basin in the Frank Church Wilderness. Good time but the fires in the last few years have left much of the area like a moonscape. If you like solitude, still pretty sweet....

Did you walk to Flossie Lake west of the airport. That was my second backcountry strip I landed in my PA12 years ago. Big Creek first and Indian Creek third about 30 years ago. Didn't have any mountain check out so didn't want to get too daring the first trip out.

Did you walk to Flossie Lake west of the airport. That was my second backcountry strip I landed in my PA12 years ago. Big Creek first and Indian Creek third about 30 years ago. Didn't have any mountain check out so didn't want to get too daring the first trip out.

I saw the lake from the air but did not get a chance to make the hike.

Looks like you got the best camping spot! Must’ve been some place before the fire.

onthegas1 wrote:Looks like you got the best camping spot! Must’ve been some place before the fire.

it was indeed. The airstrip was lined by a huge A-frame fence and there was hand carved wood tables at each campsite. They used to come and cut firewood from the downed trees, but I guess that wasn’t natural. There used to be a huge hand carved sign (mural) in front of the guard station with the whole Frank craved into one side and the history on the other. They burnt it down cause it wasn’t natural either!

I was there 2 or 3 years ago, and all I could think while hiking the trail was how much funner it'd be on a mountain bike, sorry, but that's one reason why I don't hit the Frank as much as other places out of it where you can do more. I do get the solitude thing though, in fact i'd like to fly in some winter but they won't let you use one of the ranger cabins, I asked. The last time I was there I inadvertently surprised the ranger and his girlfriend, just post coitus if I remember the looks on their faces correctly. I was there for a couple hours, but they didn't hear me fly in, and when I went down to the river to get some water and came around a curve in the trail, there they were. The same instant I saw them they opened their eyes (they were napping, fully clothed pretty much, but had just "worked out" was my guess) and all three of us were real startled, and then we all laughed, and I told them since I didn't bring my bike I had room for a full cooler of beer and the beers were on me.

Solitude? In Idaho? Hah! Don't make me laugh - I counted 8 planes at Chamberlain this weekend. Solitude in Idaho is toast, baby.

skiermanmike wrote:Solitude? In Idaho? Hah! Don't make me laugh - I counted 8 planes at Chamberlain this weekend. Solitude in Idaho is toast, baby.

Not really. I've been at Chamberlain for a week without seeing another airplane. Just depends on when you go. I bet 95% of the private air traffic in Idaho happens during 6~8 weeks in the middle of the summer.

skiermanmike wrote:Solitude? In Idaho? Hah! Don't make me laugh - I counted 8 planes at Chamberlain this weekend. Solitude in Idaho is toast, baby.

Yep, social media killed it...or at least killed it faster. It was fun while it lasted.

whee wrote:
Yep, social media killed it...or at least killed it faster.

Ding ding ding

skiermanmike wrote:

whee wrote:
Yep, social media killed it...or at least killed it faster.

Ding ding ding

To be fair, articles like Pilot Getaways' piece on Moose Creek have been around for 20 years. We sometimes tend to be the crowd that complains when we see other planes at backcountry wilderness strips, but the whole point of them being grandfathered in was to increase access. I think Hammer is right, plenty of times when you won't see a soul. Try midweek in late spring spring or early fall...

Based on the popularity of fly-ins, I figured most pilots would welcome a crowded airstrip...

IncipientSpin wrote:

skiermanmike wrote:

whee wrote:
Yep, social media killed it...or at least killed it faster.

Ding ding ding

To be fair, articles like Pilot Getaways' piece on Moose Creek have been around for 20 years. We sometimes tend to be the crowd that complains when we see other planes at backcountry wilderness strips, but the whole point of them being grandfathered in was to increase access. I think Hammer is right, plenty of times when you won't see a soul. Try midweek in late spring spring or early fall...

It’s well known that magazines don’t have the same effect as social media, probably because they aren’t free and nobody wants to put in anymore effort than seeing a cool pic and reading the caption to find out where it is. Heck, my ugly mug was on the front cover of an aviation magazine last month and not a single person remotely familiar with me or my airplane noticed.

Pull a caption and a cool pic from the Pilot Getaways article and post it on Facebook and you’ll probably reach more people in a day than the 20 year old article ever did.

Now we won’t even have midweek early spring and fall. [emoji6][emoji16]

I found it interesting when traveling through Jackson Hole, WY to see signs requesting people to not tag specific locations but to only tag the general “Jackson Hole” area because of the rush of people that can come afterwards.

@whee - You want to barf? Check this out:

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/11 ... ona-navajo

I was one of the eight there this past weekend. First time to Chamberlain. Camped with a knowledgeable gentleman and his wife who has been taking his family there for the last 30 years. He had a lot of good stories of Chamberlain. Wish I could have seen it before the fire. propeller26, you know what I'm talking about!
Flew into the Flying B and had an awesome breakfast. Landed at Cold Meadows on the way back. Had a fantastic time hanging out at Chamberlain. Hiked to the Stonebreaker Lodge one day and did some exploring. I was told that was the place where the first airplane landed in the Idaho backcountry.
Look forward to going back hopefully before fall. I know my wife would love it.
Cheers.

propeller26 wrote:There used to be a huge hand carved sign (mural) in front of the guard station with the whole Frank craved into one side and the history on the other. They burnt it down cause it wasn’t natural either!

You sure on that? I can't find any verification that the mural was burnt by the FS, while there's plenty of documentation as to why they chose to remove the picnic tables.

Hammer wrote:

propeller26 wrote:There used to be a huge hand carved sign (mural) in front of the guard station with the whole Frank craved into one side and the history on the other. They burnt it down cause it wasn’t natural either!

You sure on that? I can't find any verification that the mural was burnt by the FS, while there's plenty of documentation as to why they chose to remove the picnic tables.

You are correct, I have never had a forest service employee tell me to my face, imagine that, but have had many hint at it strongly. I have been going there for over 30 years and remember the days when we were invited to lunch with the onsite ranger. I have witnessed the change first hand in the USFS approach to management.

Approximately three years a go, we camped at Chamberlain and they turned off the water spigot where the fence had been and they also turned off the water spigot on the exterior of the main cabin. When we asked the ranger he said it was because they couldn’t verify the purity, however when we asked where they got their water, it came from the same pipe. A classic example of do as I say not as I do (we do have water filters, so no we were t dependent on the water).

Blame social media or whatever, but it remains that the USFS would rather we don’t visit at all.

deadwood wrote:I was one of the eight there this past weekend. First time to Chamberlain. Camped with a knowledgeable gentleman and his wife who has been taking his family there for the last 30 years. He had a lot of good stories of Chamberlain. Wish I could have seen it before the fire. propeller26, you know what I'm talking about!
Flew into the Flying B and had an awesome breakfast. Landed at Cold Meadows on the way back. Had a fantastic time hanging out at Chamberlain. Hiked to the Stonebreaker Lodge one day and did some exploring. I was told that was the place where the first airplane landed in the Idaho backcountry.
Look forward to going back hopefully before fall. I know my wife would love it.
Cheers.

I am quite sure I know what you are referring to. It has changed!

Anyone know if there is potable water at Chamberlain at this time? Haven’t been up there in a few years and can’t remember if there was water or tiedowns.


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Don't count on water...bring it with you or filter it from the creek.

There are tie-downs, but you have to get out and find them on foot, then taxi up to them.