Blackrock...that looks like a great day...

blackrock wrote:A new Bearhawk about to hatch:

Too cool!

Black Rock,

Solid session Brah! Love that American High Desert!!

Been going through withdrawals while waiting to finish some maintenance on my bird. Now that it is up and flying again, I plan to make up for lost time. Did another loop around the Wind River Range in Wyoming today. I love this route because I get to enjoy the Winds from both the east and west side, along with the Absaroka Range and the Tetons, sometimes all at the same time. Similar to a post I did awhile ago of the same route, but I figured you guys wouldn't mind too much. Beautiful day of flying.

Winds from the west side, about 25 miles from the ranch:



Stopped in Lander, ready to go again:



The Winds as they run northwest from Lander toward Dubois:






Cool combinations of color and terrain up toward Dubois and the Absarokas:


The Absarokas:




Dubois airport, looking to the southeast:


Tetons in the distance:


Green River Lakes--my favorite place in Wyoming:


The Winds on the Pinedale side--rugged country:





Route map, roughly 275 miles:

Another great trip. I love this thread.

its no wonder they never could catch Butch Cassidy....

No kidding about Butch Cassidy. Here's a picture I took of one of his hideouts in southwestern Wyoming last summer. They say he used to drift up from Colorado/Utah and change horses here. This little cabin was darn tough to see, even from the air. If you look closely, you can see it about 1/4 of the way up the picture.

Last weekend, Noreen and I took a few days and flew down to Southeastern Utah for a few days. We flew over Bryce Canyon and Lake Powell on our way down to Monument Valley, where we stayed at Goulding's Lodge the first night. The flight was great, the weather was awesome and Monument Valley was incredible, especially with the snow hanging around on the shadowy sides of the formations.

The next morning we flew to Fry Canyon and hiked around to the Anasazi cliff dwelling ruins. It's a good thing we brought a rope! Getting in and out was a bit more technical than what we expected. Afterwards, we flew over Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, then landed at Moab. The fbo was closed for the day, so we couldn't get the crew car. Fortunately, a guy flying an R44 landed right after us and he and his wife gave us a ride into Moab. We ended up staying in the same hotel, and over breakfast (un-beknownst to me) he told my wife about where they were heading for the day. She talked me into going there, and we flew out to Rockland Ranch. It's an off the grid community where people live in man made cave houses, ala Caveman Ranch style. We got the full tour while our new friend Jared, the R44 pilot, gave all the kids rides in the helicopter. Seriously, our tour of the community lasted at least 3 hours! The people there were incredibly accommodating and friendly.

On our way back home, we got stuck on the east side of Spanish Fork canyon because of high winds and low clouds making crossing the range impossible. So we landed at Huntington airport. I can not stress enough what a great bunch of guys run that airport. They offered us the run of the place and a courtesy car, but we ended up staying in the airport motor home for the night, free of charge! They usually have the best price on fuel in the area too, so if you are ever near, stop by and support these guys. Anyway, here is a video of the trip. It's a bit long, so I won't be offended if you don't make it all the way through.

Stunning! You folks sure do live on a beautiful, diverse continent.

RanchPilot wrote:No kidding about Butch Cassidy. Here's a picture I took of one of his hideouts in southwestern Wyoming last summer. They say he used to drift up from Colorado/Utah and change horses here. This little cabin was darn tough to see, even from the air. If you look closely, you can see it about 1/4 of the way up the picture.

if you go to caveman this year.. somewhere in horseshoe canyon there's a sandstone wall where Butch and Elzy Lay and Matt Warner carved their names into the sandstone... They hid out in Horseshoe Canyon after one of their robberies for about 6 months..

amacbean wrote:

Sweet video Allen, I'm jealous. I landed at Rockland Ranch once a met a young fellow named "Ianthis" pronounce Eye-an-thiss, who showed us around. Did you happen to meet him? Cool place.

Had a great trip this weekend to Joseph and Hells Canyon with Highroad to pick up his sweet new ride.

Camped at Dug Bar. Good Times! Stunning area. It was really a treat to get this kind of backcountry flying / camping trip in this early in the year.

Flying over to Hell's Canyon





Dug Bar:





Fireside reflection:

Great post's guys!

RanchPilot...... I'm looking forward to seeing that part of WY. Someday soon, I hope!

Nice! Good time to be out there, it gets fairly warm in the summer I suppose. That photo of Dug Bar looks beautiful.

Oregon180 wrote:

That's the face of a guy who just flew his new plane.

Beautiful flight over my adopted hometown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miguel_de_Allende) yesterday.

Sixtwoleemer - no, the lady who gave us the tour was named Anna. I guess they used to run a bed a breakfast out there, but they don't do it anymore. She said she wants to do it again when her kids are a litle older, that would make for a fun spot to fly into then.

I am more interested in how the yellow paint on the brake calipers stays on?

She's very clean and tidy!

I've been looking for an excuse to go flying so today I flew up to Lake Billy Chinook State to stretch my legs and let the dog run and then did some T&G's at RDM before heading back. My excuse was to take my (our) new dog flying for the first time! Toby's a five month old Border Collie/Lab mix and he did great! A Little unsure at first but I let him know it was OK and he settled in fine. He even peaked his head up to see where we were landing when I throttled back, then he'd lay back down!

The locals will be able to identify this landmark pretty easily. Probably some of the non-locals too:


Toby Chillin' after his first flight(s):


CW

Grants Pass and the Rogue River? Could that be I-5 off to the east?

Smith Rock!!

I have tried some top roping there and some aid routes! Very well know in the climbing world.

Car camping free too.