Hi All,

I'm attending the 2009 Arlington, WA fly-in and plan to "bug out" on Friday July 10 to a scenic camping airport. I have the following in mind:

Skykomish S88, Ranger Creek 21W, Tieton 4S6, Easton ESW, and Bandera 4W0, maybe Lake Wenatchee or ???

I'd like to stay in these general areas for one night and then I will fly down to Redmond/Bend for (a) shower and (much) beer:
Any advice on which of these (or others in the area) would be a nice place to camp for a night would be appreciated. Thanks, Roger.

A couple of interesting "fly in" campsite to consider in the region would be Stehekin 6S9 on Lake Chelan near Wenatchee and Rimrock- Teton State 4S6, just east of White Pass. You would want to factor in density altitude, but both strips would be remote, breathtakingly beautiful scenery, adjacent to the wilderness. Stehekin is east of Arlington and a deviation to the east, but Rimrock is pretty close to a courseline for Bend. Check them out. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation/
there's a link to the Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation Website that has photos and information. There are many places to go...these are just a couple of good ones.
Regards, Don

I was out fishing on Rimrock( Tieton 4S6) a couple days ago and an A6 flew the lake east to west at about 1000 to 1500 feet. Guess what the first thing to go through my mind was.

Unfortunate incident at Rimrock today. Density altitude?

YAKIMA — A man and boy are dead in the crash of a single-engine plane carrying three people near Rimrock Lake in Yakima County.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports a third passenger, a girl who authorities estimated to be about 10 years old, was taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital after the crash at about 3 p.m. Sunday.


http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/06/28/single-engine-plane-crashes-near-rimrock-lake

A short flight northeast of Arlington up in the Cascade foothills is Concrete (3W5). Not exactly backcountry (its a paved strip), however if you want to clean up etc., they have a great pilots lounge with showers, kitchen, etc. There is lots of grass for tiedown and camping. Very laid back and usually very quiet, and you wont find better scenery anywhere. No gas and watch out for the Elk.

I've never seen or heard of any elk on the airport at Concrete, although I'm sure there are elk in the surrounding North Cascades. I have heard of elk right in town at Packwood, and considering the airport there is about a block from downtown looking out for elk there would be sound advice. I've also seen elk scat on Quillayute airport, and elk grazing under my turn to final landing at Forks.

Eric

I've only been to Packwood once, several years ago, and the only thing I fished for was a smile form the waitress at the cafe in town where I ate. I'm not much of a fisherman in any event- never seem to catch any & that takes all the fun out of it.

hotrod150 wrote:I've never seen or heard of any elk on the airport at Concrete, although I'm sure there are elk in the surrounding North Cascades.

Eric

Although its not a frequent problem, I have seen Elk on the east end of Concrete airport while camping there. They tend to stay near the woods though. There is a large herd that stayed in the near surroundings most of the winter grazing on the local pastures. I flew over them many times. Not sure where the herd is now. I just mentioned them for fun as they have never been a real hazard for airplanes at Concrete.

Been into Rimrock a bunch. Its a fun little strip. If you can coordinate a ride there's a couple nice little roadside restaurants as you head down the drainage towards Naches. Easton I've flown into twice, its the Turtle Cafe that the guy mentioned above. Neat little spot if you get a chance to check it out. Both strips are pretty easy.

I've flown into Bandera once, several years ago. An OK little grass strip, but well within earshot of I-90 & 24/7 freeway noise. I wouldn't wanna camp there. I have camped at Skykomish, again several years ago. The midnight train that crosses the Cascades via the Stevens Pass tunnel woke us up with it's "hobo moan". There was a nice restaurant in town. At the time, the airport caretaker had some bicycles which we borrowed to peddle into town on. Unfortunately Aaron was killed in a motorcycle/car wreck a few years ago. I don't know if there is someone else living up there now or just what. But town is well within walking range.

Eric

If you need a slightly less rustic night or weather sucks in the hills - Prosser (S40) in the Yakima Valley has a campsite, showers and easy walks to hotels, food and several wineries .

Kevin
N509KC

I would go for Tieton State Airport. Its an awesome place, either that or Lake Wenatchee. Skyhomish isn't to bad either, And its not to far from Arlington!