Hey everyone,

It's that time of year again and we will be heading out on our annual trip before the JC fly-in again. So, I am once again trying to plan the trip and want to tap into the knowledge of others.

This year we are heading back to the Northwest, OR, WA area and I had some questions for those of you that would know.

We have wanted to visit Crater Lake. Any of you done it? What is the best city to fly into and base out of? I've looked at Medford and Klamath Falls, both of which have rental cars. Anyone on know of any airport closer that has a courtesy or rental car?

We are thinking of camping at Tieton State on the way up, then a few days at Orcas Island, and then a night at Stehekin State on the way home. Anyone one have any info on Tieton and Stehekin? Picnic tables, fire pits, good/bad camping? A few years ago I got a lot of info on Orcas, but if anyone has some "don't miss while you are there" info, I'd love to hear it. I figure we'd bounce over to Roche and Friday Harbor at least.

Anyway, I'm open for suggestions of other places to camp and activities to do.

Thanks,
Cory

Grassstrippilot wrote:Anyone one have any info on Tieton and Stehekin? Picnic tables, fire pits, good/bad camping?

I've heard they're both open and good. I might go check on Tieton tomorrow. If you swing into Yakima I can give you a tour of the factory.

Cory,
Check out this site. Its the WA DOT it has web cams, pictures and lots of other info. Below is a list of state airports (Teiton, Stehekin etc) With info like water, tables and more. One thing with Stehekin is that you can't camp right next to your airplane you have to put your stuff in a little trailer and hike it in a little ways. Another place that has camping, nothing crazy is Electric city. Its a really cool camping spot to the North of the field with water, picnic table and well the lake! They also have a car to go into town and they might have the laser light show goign, kids like it and so do adults.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation/Airports/Amenities.htm
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation/AllSta ... leeDam.htm (camping mid field to the left in the picture)
http://www.grandcouleedam.com/aboutlls.html
I think your planning on staying in the tent but here is something to check out, might be cheaper than a car...not sure
(see Prospect, Oregon)
http://pilotgetaways.com/mag/spr02

Have a great trip! I hope this helps, I look forward to your trip report, as I have to live vicariously through everybody till I return in Sept!

edit: I thought I would add that another great stop is Sullivan lake, for your loaded plane you just take off in the evening or early morning 1700 ft is long when you have a lake to climb out over! Anyway they have a campground next to it so its not (out there) but the lake is right there and a small beach at the end of the runway. Just throwing some places out for ya!

Bryan

I've heard that due to it's proximity to a road, Tieton (Rimrock Lake) gets a lot of rowdy non-airplane ampers- middle of the night hollering & fighting, etc. Hearsay only.
Vintage airplane collection at Concrete WA ( www.skagitaero.com) & a vintage car/airplane museum at Hood River. Not a lot at Concrete but a nice camp-on-the-field place with facilities including showers kitchen & sofas- "pilot lounge" doesn't do it justice.

You know I keep hearing that about Tieton, but the thing is, how do we know its always like that! I've been in there and it was very calm. Didn't stay overnight but the day it was calm. If one person said this years ago and it keeps going on and on and scaring people away how do we know if it's the same or changed! okay im done ranting!

Great info Brian! Thank you! We were actually considering a hotel for Crater Lake, so that might work. Can you see the laser light show from the camping spot at Coulee Dam? I couldn't read the Crater Lake Article. I'm guessing you have to have a subscription. Could you post it if you have access to it?

Thanks again!

Tadpole, thanks for the offer. That would be fun and I'll keep it in mind. A strip report would be great! Thanks!

I have camped at Tieton twice. Once on a Friday night and it was pretty rowdy, and I have a pretty high tolerance for that sort of thing. The second time was midweek and it was an awesome experience; didn't see anyone else except a helitack crew that stopped by to do some training for an hour or two.

McKenzie Bridge state is a good stop if you are going to be staying in OR long. There is decent hiking and fishing nearby. Also Easton State and Lake Wenatchee state can be fun. Neither of them are backcountry, but they are fairly rural. Also its not a bad walk into town at Easton to grab some food.

Grassstrippilot wrote:Great info Brian! Thanks!

eh hem.... whats with that thing that's got a dot on it??? I know a BrYan, not sure who Br"i"an is!!

Cory,
Here is the info I found on the hotel. Mind you that was a 2002 print but they might still be accomidating!

http://www.prospecthotel.com/index.html

And you can't see the light show from the camping spot no, but its a short drive using the airport car (on the other side, very short walk!) If you go try and take some sort of radio so you can listen to the music/talking. Very much worth it as I said earlier!

If you're going to be in the Northwest you can't pass up Copalis (S16) if you've never been.


After you're done playing on the beach you can fly 5-10 minutes over to Hoquiam (HQM) to get a burger at the restaraunt that's on the field

Sorry about the "i". I was in a hurry from my phone and forgot to check. Feel free to add an e to either of my names.

Thanks for the additional info.

We did do Copalis last time, but since it just started to rain, we were there only for 15 minutes or so. The plan is to hit it again and let the kids play on the beach.

Thanks again guys. Anyone know of any self-serve still holding some cheap gas in there tanks up that way? Best I've found is $4.98 and $5.00...but the info is a little dated.

Scappoose: $5.20

Lebanon State: $5.00

Starks Twin Oaks: w/BP Card: $4.94 w/o: $5.20

Lewis County Airport (TDO): $4.60

I also heard Camas and Hoquiam are still have some cheap gas left in the tank, but was not able to verify.

I'm heading out in the morning to Twin Oaks to meet up with Z and start exploring the area. I'm going to swing by Tieton on the way home if the winds are alright. It's only about 15 - 20 minutes away from home by air, so if nothing else I'll swing up there this week.

Hey Cory: Madras Oregon. You can stay in my vacation home. 2500 sq ft. as good a view as anywhere we fly. You got a mini van to use and from the house 10 min drive to a beautiful lake Billy Chinook! Fish, swim, boat, hike, bike. You can then fly to Sunriver for lunch or dinner. Sunriver is a 5 star resort, everything there is top shelf. 25 min flight from Madras. The Cowboy Dinner Tree is a must, 45 min flight south. I know Mark he owns the grass strip across the gravel road. He will let you land.

Want to test your skills, Chukar Flat. 800' it will test you. 20min NE of Madras.

Come to Troutdale. I'll take you to 8 different pristine grass strips. You can camp by my shop. 18 acreas of grass and trees. The shop has a full apartment for you. Got a car for you too. 40 min to the beach. 40 min to the Madras place. We got it all.

OH, I forgot, it might rain or have low clouds on the west side of the Cascades be forewarned.

Cheers...Rob

Thanks for the info again guys.

Rob, thanks for the offer! I will let you know if we will take you up on it. I need to talk to Dee about our options and see what she would like to do. With Father's Day the weekend before the fly-in, it has left us with fewer days to do our trip than we would have liked, so we have to figure out what the priorities are. Yeah, weather on the west side of the cascades is a concern and something we'll be watching. We really don't want to get up there and not be able to get to the fly-in. I'm thinking of reversing the route we had planned and doing Orcas Island first. That will give me more days to get to the fly-in in the event weather becomes a factor.

I called the Prospect Hotel that was in the Getaways article. They no longer arrange for any transportation to Crater Lake. So I think that is one excursion that will have to be left for another trip. The hotel/B&B looked great. Definitely a place to go visit in the future.

Darn! Well good to know then!

Wow Rob, You really have the set up!

Hey Rob,

Is the Cowboy Dinner Tree's strip that you mentioned Mahogany Mountain?

About 12 years ago when I was flying out of Methow Valley, they had a SS fuel pump. Anyone know if it is still there? And how much?

As far as I know Methow State doesn't have fuel, but its been a couple years since I was there.

100LL.com says the fuel at nearby Chelan is $4.95, but that price is a few weeks old.

Thanks. Airnav doesn't list a price for Chelan. I'll have to give them a call.