I'm heading to JC with my girlfriend, weather permitting, next Thursday through Sunday.

If any of you are around I'd love to meet you and hang out.

We will be flying the beautiful yellow and green Trigear Maule.

Hey have fun mt. doc...its looking way nice there now as far as greening up...!
ill be in there a few different times but all in the month of june....enjoy!

The weather looks good in the long range for my visit except Sunday, my expected departure date, is calling for T stoms. That can change several times between now aznd then so I won't worry. Plus I'd expect convection in the afternoon, and we would plan to depart in the morning.

Looks like I'll be scrubbing due to an unfavorable forcast. Scuddy and rainy, no fun.

Looks clear on the Washington and Oregon coasts.

The girlfriend and I think instead we will go to Florence, Oregon. Weather there looks mild and dry, partly sunny for the planned duration of our stay.

There is a place to rent ATV's near there IIRC, that would be fun on the sand dunes.

Again, if anyone will be in that area let me know we can meet for a drink or whatever.

Also if anyone has local knowledge on Florence let me know, I've only been there once a few years ago, and that was with Monte and the Bonanza. If there are any fun strips nearby worth checking out that would be nice.

Florence is a great little town. Take the courtesy car to old town on the river for shopping and food.
Lakeside state is south a short hop. Grass strip and a short walk into town. Also a great Hike if you walk towards 101. Cross hwy101 and go north a few hundred yards to John Dellenback park and hike into the dunes. No motor vehicles in this part of the dunes and you can go all the way to the beach.

Bandon is a great town with really good food and Powers and Lucas Lodge aren't really that far either, south and inland.

We've been having typical mild pleasant summer weather. Windy during the day, some coastal fog etc.

A long dramatic video flying from KONP to Florence, Oregon. Better drink a cup of coffee to watch it.

Circa 2012...

Hi gentlemen.

Tammy and I are planning on taking the Maule to JC again this weekend. Weather permitting of course

I heard about Idaho wildfires in the news.

The webcam at JC looks clear. Has anyone been there recently and can comment on conditions?

Any particular advise or tips?

BTW if any BCP's happen to see me lounging in the shade under the wing of my yellow Maule please say hi and have a beer with me.

I flew around the JC area yesterday morning and I don't think you will have any problem unless something chages. It is not like it was a few years ago where there was a lot of smoke making the valleys IMC, at least not yet. Most of the current larger fires are farther north. It has been really hot and not cooling off much at night so DA is high even in the mornings.

Mountain Doctor wrote:Hi gentlemen.

Tammy and I are planning on taking the Maule to JC again this weekend. Weather permitting of course

I heard about Idaho wildfires in the news.

The webcam at JC looks clear. Has anyone been there recently and can comment on conditions?

Any particular advise or tips?

BTW if any BCP's happen to see me lounging in the shade under the wing of my yellow Maule please say hi and have a beer with me.

I departed there this morning after two nights there. It was very quiet, maybe five operations per day over Independence day weekend.

Smoke from wildfires was not detectable, but Moose Creek and along big creek, there is a lot of smoke, but not borderline IMC. The campsites are in great condition. The grass is brown on the runway, because the pump for irrigating the strip has been down for several weeks.

Thanks for the information. Sounds good for the time being. It's been pretty hot out and dry here lately.

Bummer the grass is brown. It was so beautiful and cool and nice to walk on barefoot, one of the sublime pleasures of JC. Oh well, at least I won't have to worry about the plane getting hosed down.

I planned my annual trip to leave last wed and be there for 10 days... storms and weather over my route of travel through Nevada kept me home wed, thurs and friday at which point I gave up... plane is still packed and as it turns out was a good decision... Nevada and southern Idaho are full of storms every day since last week.... have postponed my trip till last of July if I can make it then....good luck....

Mt Dr. I would like to make it, ill check my schedule and see if anyone wants to ride along.
I will keep u posted
Dan

Hearing that the terrorists were going to target large gathering of Americans over Independence Day, I made a last minute decision (over Moose Creek, when I remembered that CB was 3 K higher, thus maybe cooler) to spend the 4 th. at Chamberlain Basin. I was reassured to find that indeed, CB had escaped notice. I earlier had been in Townsend Mt.

I only mention this because as I was on short final, I was listening to FOX News on the Sat radio, ( who seemed to be really stressing over the holiday "threat") and had to laugh when not only did I not see any suspicious characters, I saw no one at all! I did later see the ranger and his co employee/girlfriend, (?) down by the river. I was getting water and we all scared the hell out of each other, I didn't see them and they didn't
hear me coming and we all became aware of each other when we were maybe 20' apart. It was a pretty good hoot. Still, I am glad I bagged my earlier plans to send the 4 th. in NYC. No not really, the other option was the Inkom parade, which is actually a great alternative IF the WX is not flyable.

Sunday morning, it was a little spooky looking, like maybe it was going to go all low pressure on my ass, so I packed it up and got out of there ASAP. Glass smooth air but lots of smoke in the canyons, pretty cool looking actually. This morning, I had two early crane jobs for two different guys that are used to be pilots, and who knew I was going to be in the Frank over the weekend. It was really rewarding to pull up to their jobsites right on time. Indeed the high temps and high pressure have abated, it's been a little vigorous here, in fact a big cell right now is lurking down in the valley. I am really glad to not still be at Chamberlain.

Forecast calling for thunderstorms over the JC/Yellow Pine area Thursday through Monday.

Not looking good for Doc and Tammy's trip.

We're going somewhere though to camp I promise!

Maybe Priest Lake.

Will keep an eye on the weather...

I would suspect if you get there in the morning before the t-storms develop you will be fine

Mountain Doctor wrote:Forecast calling for thunderstorms over the JC/Yellow Pine area Thursday through Monday.

Not looking good for Doc and Tammy's trip.

We're going somewhere though to camp I promise!

Maybe Priest Lake.

Will keep an eye on the weather...

In my opinion there are better places nearby to camp than Priest Lake. If it were me, I'd rather camp at Sullivan Lake. Cavanaugh Bay is another nice option but it's not as remote as you might want. It is a great stop for food though. Magee is also a nice place to camp in northern Idaho.

Tammy's plan for Priest lake would be to bribe a waterskier to give us a ride to one of the islands and camp there, so we would not camp under the wing. She and her family go to PL every year for many years, she is familiar with it.

Sullivan lake looks great! I just saw an aerial pic on Airnav.com.

What's it like there? What facilities?

Sullivan lake has a couple fire pits, picnic tables, and bathrooms, I believe there is potable water at the adjacent campgrounds. The lake is right at the end of the strip and would be great to swim in on a hot day. The strip is somewhat short but not a problem at all if you know what you're doing. The approach and departure over the lake make it easy to get in and out.

So does a guy camp on the airstrip close to the plane, or at the official campground adjacent? Are reservations needed/recommended?

Can one camp on the field, and walk over to use the facilities at the official campground? I've not been there before.

I looked at the chart and on-line. It seems to me to be a safe place to get into and out of, as long as one pays attention to time of day and density altitude and wind.

Assuming less than about a 10 MPH tailwind, landing uphill on the grass there is plenty of room. Just a matter of using the time and space over the lake to be at the right altitude and airspeed, no obstacles to overcome.

Takeoff, again assuming no big tailwwind, downhill and over the lake should also be safe enough. There does not appear to be anything to hit for a mile or two, and there is a drainage to follow out.

You camp right under your wing on the south end of the field where the firepits are located. No reservations needed, just show up. It's been a couple years since I was there but I think the toilets and water are just to the west of the runway in the trees? Maybe someone else can confirm.