Haven't seen any photos posted of the strip that seperates the men from the boys, Mile Hi.

Thought for sure we'd see a bunch of the fearless cub guys lined up there for a photo.

Guess nobody was brave enough to venture that far.

Several flew into Mile Hi. There are pictures in the Supercub.org gallery; check out NoStripNeeded's gallery. I however, didn't. I'm not mentally up for it yet and have no desire for a large insurance claim at this time. Besides, my backcountry flying isn't about putting notches in my pistol grip, there is little to do at Mile Hi once you get there, except maybe Deer or Elk hunting.

This isn't a slam against those who do fly into Mile Hi. I think I will one of these days, but not until I'm really ready and for the right reasons. I already know where I stand amongst the men and the boys, and I know I don't have to fly into Mile Hi to prove it. I'm sure many of the guys who land there do it for the sense of accomplishment and enjoyment of the challenge, but there there are those who do it because they feel like they have something to prove to the rest of us and their motivation is sorely misplaced. I intend to pursue my backcountry flying at a deliberate and measured pace with a purpose behind every landing.

We fly on a very restricted budget, and I'm not gonna do without my plane because I decided to let some misplaced sense of importance cause me to roll it into a ball. A lot of these Cub drivers have more than one plane, we don't.

Well said.

Sometimes, the difference between the men and the boys isn't the size of their toys-- it's the size of the insurance claim!
I know a few people who've gotten into trouble landing where they shouldn't have, due to euipment/experience/skill shortcomings-- in other words,poor judgement. It's kind of a variation of the "hey watch this" syndrome- you know, the three most dangerous words in aviation.
For those of you who DO have the equipment, experience, and/or skill-- no offense, and more power to you!

Eric

Just wondering as it was talked about quite a bit leading up to the fly-in at Johnson creek.

I have landed there more than once. The takeoffs can be just as challenging as the landings. It's kind of like that bigger mountain to climb. Your right, there isn't anything to do there unless you like hiking. Last time we were there we filled in an erosion rut so the next guy wouldn't have to deal with it.

The place does have a reputation for eating airplanes.

Yeah, the takeoff is the really wild thing about Mile Hi because you can't see where you're going.

Some have told me there are one or two strips in the Frank Church that they consider tougher to land on than Mile Hi, Dewey Moore being one of them. What's your take on Dewey Moore, Scubr, have you been in there?

Strata,

Yep. But we call it Dewey for short, as in "Do We or Don't We"

The strip is really short and the end is sometimes eroded really bad as it lays right at the drainage end of a canyon. Would not land there in anything but a good strong running Super Cub and only if there is absolutely no wind.

It's also easy to get into a cross controlled, low and slow situation since you have to make a turn to the right on short final.

It's no where near as steep as Mile Hi.

I have been on final approach to Mile Hi several times and have always chickened out at the last minute. To me it really isn't worth risking bending a perfectly good airplane just to land somewhere, get out, take a leak and then take off. Vines is much more preferable to me due to its close proximity to the river.

I agree. My low time notwithstanding, and not being paid to take chances, the risk sometimes outweighs the reward.