Tell Paul I said to keep the dirty side down.. Mike

Lol! I how do you tell which side is the dirty side in an Agcat? I just flew him back over to Colusa and dropped him off, told him you recognized the planes. Take care.

Memorial Day Weekend 2016:
I was really looking forward to loading up the Champ and heading down to the Red Hills Fly-in over the weekend, but it had some issues that needed attention. So, instead I loaded up the 182 and headed for higher country to get out of the heat. The air was like glass Saturday morning, and after a stop at the Red Truck in Truckee for coffee and a great breakfast sandwich, we waded out through the weekend jet traffic and headed south.

I had originally planned on working my way south to check out the high passes and stopping at Lee Vining for lunch at the Whoa Nellie Deli, but the clouds were starting to pop before I made it to Sonora Pass, so we turned around and flew into Alpine County. After a quick (too quick) aerial re-con of the surrounding terrain we set down and shouldered our packs for a hike over to the East Fork of the Carson River.

I knew there were some nice hot springs down there, and from the air it looked like a pretty easy hike over the ridge and down river to the springs, so we set out down the runway intending to contour the ridgeline
northward for a few miles before cutting over to the river.
It was really turning out to be a beautiful day with spectacular scenery all around. Indian Creek Reservoir lies just west of the strip.

The hot springs are only accessible by floating down the river, or an arduous 4WD road with a swim across the river......or a cross country trek. So, with one last look back at the strip and lonely plane we set off into the hills.
To be continued...

I had scouted the hot springs from the air on the way in. They sit on the left bank where the road meets the water.

Here is a view of Indian Creek Reservoir from the north...the airstrip is just behind the left wing root.

The hot springs sit at the bottom of this draw where it meets the river. I intended to follow this draw down, but a thunderstorm forced us to cut down off the ridge top toward the river early. There was no suitable campsite where we made the river, so we had to climb back up the ridge and traverse downriver a ways. We ended up camping the first night on the bar in the upper middle of this picture:

Looking downriver, the drainage we hiked down is beneath the strut step. Our first night camp was on the river bar where the strut crosses the river. The terrain was too steep to hike along the river down to the hot springs, so in the morning we climbed to the top of the ridge shown to the left of camp. After stashing our packs on top of the ridge, we followed the next drainage down to the hot springs. The hot springs sit just to the left of where the strut meets the wing.

The hike turned out to be a lot longer, a lot hotter, and a lot steeper than I had anticipated. That will teach me to look at something besides the sectional before I take off on foot. And it is hard to appreciate terrain that takes only a few minutes to fly over in the air. It turned out to be just what I needed to get my ass in shape though, and the scenery was stunning. The river was still too high and muddy for decent fishing, but I hear it can be pretty good.

All the rejuvenation I gained swimming in the river, and relaxing in the hot springs was soon lost. The hike back to the plane turned out to be long and hot and a thunderstorm would have been welcome. This is what I felt like about half way out of the canyon:

Here is a rough sketch of the route. I would recommend staying on the ridge top that leads directly to the hot springs for anyone else heading that way. I would also like to try it in an Alpacka Raft launched from the river below the south end of the strip.

After taking the dog for a much needed swim in Indian Creek Reservoir, we made it back to the plane at dark and camped under the wing. In the morning we enjoyed a quick cup of coffee and launched into the smooth morning air to buzz some of our new friends down on the river. Then it was a loop south through the heart of the Sierras to check out the high passes:

We finished the trip with a stop in Truckee for a well earned plate full of chicken fried steak and eggs at Jax on the Tracks. Then it was back down to the valley where I knew I had a great weekend because I barely had the energy left to push the 182 back into the hangar.

Great trip report, thanks You are combining my two favorite things: flying and hiking. Ok, I'm back out into the shop building

M3X wrote:Great trip report, thanks You are combining my two favorite things: flying and hiking.

Same here! Cool TR! I love backpacking/hiking as much as flying. Combining the two is extra great. Nice job!


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Thanks guys. I did combine my two favorite things...flying and soaking in hot springs with pretty girls,,,the hiking was just incidental...but it does seem too have a positive effect on my useful load!

We had an Air Fest this weekend and they had some kind of red carpet gala in the hangar next door. Pretty fancy neighborhood for the Champ!

Air Fest was fun, but a little too busy for my taste. I wanted to go fly Saturday, but couldn't communicate well enough with the Air Boss on my handheld and ended up taxiing back to the hangar. I made up for it yesterday though and flew most of the day. Cruised all over the valley and dropped in here and there to visit.


Anybody ever land one of these islands in the after bay?

Love it!

We had a wedding in the family to attend over the weekend. Flew my mom over to the Taber Ranch to check out the venue. She pointed out that, although the Champ has been in the family for almost forty years, this is the first time any of us has taken her up in it. Never occurred to me until she mentioned it. I guess every time she comes along we are traveling somewhere or have more than two people along. She is not real tall, so she really appreciated the view out of the Champ and wants to go again soon!

Mom's first Champ ride:

Taber Ranch:

Nice trip report.

I enjoy reading about your adventures.

Thanks Groundlooper! I like reading all the great TR's from others here as well...but they have been kind of sparse lately...come on guys!

It has been too smoky lately to get any quality pictures, but otherwise great flying weather. I flew home over the weekend and pretty much had the skies to myself, I guess everyone was busy with 4th activities. I was on my way back over the Valley as it got dark last night and was able to see the fireworks shows lighting off below me. Between that and the smoke fueled sunset it was a pretty spectacular flight.

Low and Slow this week after the 4th and getting ready to head up to Truckee in the morning. Hopefully I will see some of you there.

One of these days I will get a real camera and a prop filter.

Had a great weekend camping out in the Sierras. Dropped in to the Truckee Airshow and met up with several BCP's. The airshow included a STOL demonstration with some very challenging winds (great job guys, took a lot of skill and judgment to not turn that into a ground loop demonstration!).

Pokey Joe checking out the view above camp-


Things you don't see everyday!-


Mountain wave over the Sierra-

Check out this stack of lenticulars-

No finer place on earth. Nice photography.