Unfortunately, I have to work all weekend.

I'm planning on Stehekin, even if it's just a day trip....we'll see. I need to secure a plane for it.

If I have my fixed wing add-on by Nehalem Bay (which I better!!!), I'll be there!!! (This time I'll invest in a camp pad so I don't freeze my a$$ off again!!!).

The weekend before I'll be fancy campin' in Pendleton with the Acrobatic crew for Beaver State Regionals....I'm crossing my fingers that I get right seat in a Cessna 310! (ok, everyone cross fingers now).

I'm in for Stehekin WX permitting. M5guy will be me wing man. We are headed north at 3PM that Friday. If anyone wants to join the formation we will depart Troutdale Oregon at 1510 July 22

I will have my son with me. I plan to depart early Sunday. We have the Sandy Oregon Kiwanis Fly-in Breakfast
Sunday, July 24th, 2011 7:00am - 12:30pm McKinnon Airpark Sandy, Oregon

This is one of my favorites. This could be the last year as the property is for sale. I wish I could buy it.


http://www.sandykiwanis.org/flyIn.html

http://www.airnav.com/airport/OG29

I am planning on Stehekin also, might head up Thursday night. Hoping for good weather

I was going to come up there, but family from the wet side is coming over to visit us. Our first visitors since we moved here, yay! Though, if I can get a plane on Saturday, I might fly up for a quick visit with my brother in law.

Tadpole wrote:I was going to come up there, but family from the wet side is coming over to visit us. Our first visitors since we moved here, yay! Though, if I can get a plane on Saturday, I might fly up for a quick visit with my brother in law.

I can not think of a better way to spend the day with a brother in law. I wish mine was still here. Steve was my BNL. We started taking flying lessons together in Jan 06 In March of 06 he died of a heart attack at 46 years old. I sure miss him

Hope to see you and your BNL.

Cheers..Rob

I am planning on Stehekin also, might head up Thursday night. Hoping for good weather

Erick;

Looks like if you go up the East side it will be ok but a forecast is for a bit of wind. The West side is 60% precip and mostly cloudy.

Friday lookin' good. Hope to get out Friday pm.

TD

See you Friday Tom and Erick.

Cheers...Rob

My son and I will depart Troutdale Friday July 22 at 1500 should be at Stehekin by 1645 the SPOT will be on. The weather looks to be epic all weekend!!

I'll be at the McKinnon fly in Sunday by 0900-1000



Cheers...Rob

I have a plane to fly tomorrow, are any of you going to be at Stehekin early? If so I'll drop in. If not I'll wander off someplace else. I still might fly up Saturday with my brother in law for a visit.

I was so excited I woke up at 3AM and couldn't go back to sleep till 4AM. WX perfect and I'm headed to the airport to wash and pack the M7. The boy gets off work at 2 then off we go.

Stehekin now.

10 miles north


Good day....Rob

We are not going to make it, have a great time...

OregonMaule wrote:I'll be at the McKinnon fly in Sunday by 0900-1000

I'll be there around the same time.

So everyone how was Stehekin???

fern_hopper wrote:So everyone how was Stehekin???

Great pics and video to come.

Cheers...Rob

We had a meager turn out. I don't know what happened. The wx was a 10 a 5 star a A++ What ever it was that kept you away, it was a mistake not to make this trip. There are 51 other weekends to do what ever.

3 planes and 6 BCPers. groundlooper and brother Dave. TomD and Susie. Me and my son. That's it.

My biggest complaint is you can not camp buy your plane. The camp ground is a 10 minute walk. Stehekin is in The North Cascades National Park. I ask ranger Bill why we can't camp by our planes, he said that is the way the NPS wants it. Bill is a good guy. He flies a Husky.

There are no roads into this area. EVERYTHING! is barged in.



In Indian talk this is what it means.


Creative approach




Friendly locals


Saturday morning flight before any wind. Smooth.
Trapper Lake




On the way to Cascade Pass


After the flight we hopped on the bikes and headed to the Stehekin Resort
Rainbow falls. Lots of mist all day. In the afternoon you get a rainbow.


The resort is 5 miles from camp. We are half way there in this pic


The resort


A Beaver lands




Very well cared for




Headed home early Sunday. Got a fly in to get to.


Cheers...Rob

Great pics Rob! Looks like a very cool place, I'll have to go visit sometime.

robw56 wrote:Great pics Rob! Looks like a very cool place, I'll have to go visit sometime.

Hey Rob, it is a special place. I guess thats why it is a NP. The camp situation is FU but is doable. I didn't mention the gourmet bakery, half way to town. That is a MUST do. Ice cream too. I didn't get anything but I sure wanted to.

Ranger Bill worked for the NPS in Alaska. He said there are more types of bugs at Stehekin, maybe not as many, but take bug spray! long pants and long sleeves are a must when the sun goes down.

You could easily out gun the rangers and any back up would have to fly in. LOL Just kidding.

Good day

Great trip. I'll try to get pictures posted soon.

I was the first of our group to arrive around 2:15. My total round trip time from hangar to hangar was 6hrs 18 minutes. Fuel burn worked out to 8.06 GPH. Higher than my trip to JC last year. I may not be leaning as aggressively as I could, but that's another thread.

Only the occasional whitecap forming over the lake by the time we reached Stehekin. Wind sock was indicating 8-10 with gusts a bit higher. Got a little squirrely coming around the trees but not too bad.

There are 3 courtesy bikes in better condition that one might expect for a courtesy bike. the front tire on one was flat with an obvious big leak when I tried to pump it up.

There are 3 carts. Only one of which was in reasonable condition. I managed to hobble another together with bungee cords (I think one got left behind on the cart).

Winds had picked up quite a bit more by the time Rob and Tom arrived. But they made it in just fine.

The mosquitoes were fairly thick. My brother, Dave, had a screen canopy we were able to throw over the camp table. That was well worth the weight. Unfortunately, we didn't get the memo and had already set up camp other than the group site where Tom and Rob ended up. It was all good though.

Dave and I went for an interesting cross country hike up to Battalion lake, NW of the airstrip. About 9 miles RT with 4000' of gain. Route finding really slowed us down. Got back just a little late to catch the bus out to Stehekin Valley Ranch for dinner and too tired to try riding the bikes.

Sunday morning was perfect for flying out. Cool and clear. No problem clearing the trees. Gorgeous day flying back and with the calm winds I was able to fly closer to the Enchantments than I had before. Only a couple bumps here and there. Otherwise good smooth air.




Rainbow Falls




Educational budget cuts in action.









Battalion Lake