Going on my second Idaho trip in about a week. I am hoping to explore the Snake River. I have landed at Dug and Big Bar before but wanted to check out some other spots. Curious if anyone can give PIREPs on Salmon Bar, Sluice Creek, Pittsburg, and Wapshilla Creek. My 180 has 8.5 X 6s tires. Not worried about strip lengths. I will be flying early and light. I am concerned about turf conditions and any known hazards on some of these strips. Which should be avoided ?



Josh

Sounds like a great trip! I've flown around that area a bit, so I can share some insights. Salmon Bar generally has good turf conditions, but watch out for wildlife. Early morning flights should be smooth. Sluice Creek can get a bit rough, especially after rain. Keep an eye out for recent weather impacts. Pittsburg is a solid strip, but there can be some rocks. If you can, walk it before landing to check conditions. Wapshilla Creek has decent conditions overall, but be cautious of wind gusts in the canyon. Flying early and light with your 8.5 x 6s should be fine for these strips.

We landed and camped big bar last Saturday and it was in great shape.

Flew over Sluice Creek and it looked good bit it was pretty windy so decided the extra length of big bar was a good fit for us that day.

If you decide to go to Lord Flat just cause it’s along the way I’d think twice, pretty rough.

185er wrote:If you decide to go to Lord Flat just cause it’s along the way I’d think twice, pretty rough.

Should be renamed Lord Fucked. 185er and I were the only brave souls in our group to land there. Really rough and rutted out from people driving on the strip. We landed at Wapshilla. Strip was in perfect shape. I went on to land at Sluice and Pittburg. Flew the Snake river the whole way back and then got fuel in Mccall. Sluice was a little rough but still in good shape for any airplane with 8.5s. Pittsburg was in great shape and apparently the RAF had a work party there recently to fix it up. I over flew Salmon Bar and felt it was also doable. Will try another time. I was trying to catch up with my friends at Wapshilla and made too high of an initial approach at Salmon Bar. Surface looked very reasonable from 100 feet AGL. I did not get a chance to look at Cache Creek. I will have some videos and photos to follow. Weather was perfect the whole weekend other than an occasional scattered shower. Perfect weekend for Idaho flying.



Josh

Wapshilla Airport Video

Pittsburg Airport - next two videos are longer and unedited but it really was a beautiful day to fly up the mighty Snake River. You can fast forward to the end for the approach and landing.

Sluice Creek - This one is even longer. So fast forward if you don't want to watch it for 10 minutes. It was a great weekend at 3U2. The Snake River strips are all in fairly good shape. Well except Lord (not so) Flat.