Wow!
Nothing to compare to those, but I did get the skis on and we have enough snow to use them. Checked out some Trout ponds I want to get into this spring. None of these have trails, so it helps to check out the terrain in the winter to make route planning a bit easier.









There is an old radial engine on this Mt. from a crash in the 40’s



Nothing special, just liked the way the trees grew here.



Pete

Some holes in the miserable weather. My last flight of 2024

Gravel Bar Cowboys tradition, New Years Day on what is now known as "Ken's Bar", so named after Ken Wardstrom.
The 172 guy will probably have bigger tires next year.

Glare ice here today.

Looks slippery! Beautiful though. How much traction did you have? I got blown around a lake on skis last year in a light breeze trying to taxi to a different spot. Almost no control. Finally just let the thing weathervane and took off. Most likely someone that knew what they were doing would have had an easier time….

Pete

Pete, Skis will generally have a harder time directionally than tires on ice like this, they need snow to bite into. When it's really cold the ice isn't all that slippery (but still enough to do donuts for fun).

Flew over LA and to Catalina Island over the weekend.

Take off with Insta360 x4.

What a difference a week makes. Flew around last Monday to check ice conditions on some backcountry ponds. Everything was locked up. We had several days of warm weather so I did another check this morning. Everything is open. Time to get some Brook Trout in the pan.

Last week



This week. ( different ponds, but in the same general area)




Pete

BRD wrote:

Just wanted to compliment the composition of this photo. Love how the wing, the ice cracks, even the pitot all extend toward the corners, creating depth and a very dynamic feel. Doesn't happen like that by accident, I'm thinking.

-DP

DP, I was interested in the ice color and the way it was cracked like an X under the airplane. It was a perfect day!

Monday we wandered around Midway In San Diego harbor with family. Definitely feels smaller than TR or Ford.






TR over there

Float season is here!

Pretty happy to finally check out this scene after many years of reading about it!

good ones Brian!

Spring finally arrives!

I set off on a trip from Arkansas to Virginia and hopefully New England last week. The mission was to attend a reunion in Virginia. New England was just extra.

I flew into Middlesboro, Kentucky and took the crew car to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. I grew up in Kentucky but hadn't spent much time in this part. You gotta want to go there to get there. Middlesboro isn't backcountry but it's back in there. You can see the strip in this picture. It was a good spot to spend the night and I'd go back.



I flew along the Kentucky/Virginia border the next morning. You want to talk about rugged terrain... well, this is it. Reminded me of Central Idaho just because there are so few suitable landing spots in case of an issue. I saw lots of tailings piles and scars from Old King Coal. I guess you could land on one of the old haul roads but I wouldn't want to.



I did have a good stop in Rainelle, West Virginia. An old buddy used to say West Virginia would be as big as Texas if you could roll it flat. This airport was one of the flatter spots I saw. Nice folks. I didn't realize it was an airpark with people living there. I remember reading about the restaurant in AOPA magazine once. The restaurant is long closed and the glass is falling out of the windows... bring a lunch.



The trip to Virginia worked out fine. But the weather in New England looked terrible. I like IFR in VMC and I'll do IFR in some IMC but banging around in 400 OVC with lots of green and yellow on the radar isn't my idea of a good time. So, I cut the trip short and came home. I'll go back another time!!

Nice report. I was raised in VA so curious where. I've only made one trip to VA in my plane and it was a nice day. Memorable flying from Portmouth OH to Lynchburg. As we flew past the New River Gorge Bridge I asked my non- pilot passenger if he wanted to go under. It really looked pretty small compared to being next on the ground.

180Marty wrote:I was raised in VA so curious where.

I flew into Roanoke and parked at Signature (gross). But it was the best option. Sometime I hope to fly northeast up the valley and check out the area between Staunton and Winchester.

We flew up that valley ferrying the Champ home from FL. Beautiful.

Pete