My wife received a call from her sister saying they were in Park City, UT for a week, and invited us to come over . It just so happens our family had a few days off from work, so what better way to ring in the New Year than a good cross country flight. (Cabin fever was starting to set in, so this was well timed.)
We departed the morning of New Year's Day and made our way across the Denver meto area and over Rollins Pass.
Look southwest near Rollins Pass
From there it was a smooth and quick flight all the way to Heber City, UT (36U). Thanks to a tailwind GOING WEST
we enjoyed an average ground speed of 170 mph for the 2:30 flight.
The Wasatch Range in sight.
On the ground at 36U
Once in Park City, we enjoyed time outdoors (lots of kids running everywhere) in the freezing temps, played board games like it was going out of style, went to the pool in Kamas, and ate tons of food.
A storm rolled through CO on Saturday, so we headed back on Sunday morning. (Lots of weather checking this trip.)
I arrived at the airport to see the 180 was a block of ice, so OK3 AIR was kind enough to pull it in the hangar for a pre-heat and thaw. I know this airport caters to the big jets, but they seemed very happy to help out GA folks too.
On the way back, we made use of the ADS-B weather reports and the tailwind was noticeable pushing our ground speed to 200+ mph at times. It was rather smooth the entire trip, only some chop over Larkspur, CO dropping down onto the eastern plains. (I had no desire push the weather or turb this trip, precious cargo on board.)
Mount Timpanogos with 36U far below in the valley.
The Green River
A lonely part of UT with the La Sal's far off in the distance.
We made our way a little farther south to avoid weather to the north. This had us flying over Aspen, CO and down Independence Pass.
Buttermilk and Apsen Highlands ski resorts.
Maroon Creek Road going to "The Bells"
The other side of Independence Pass over Twin Lakes gave us a breathtaking view of the Collegiate Peaks.
From there we flew over South Park and dropped down over the Front Range for a soft landing in a few inches of recent snow.
Hopefully next time I'm out there I'll have more notice and can plan to meet up with a few local BCPers.
