Priceless

Well this happened just before I joined this site but I just moved from SLC UT to Incline Village NV (Lake Tahoe) I drove from SLC UT to Lake Tahoe by myself to find a condo. It took 9 lonely hrs.. My brother made the same trip in his Cessna 182 skyline in 3. He called me when he landed to brag.... Family am I right?

Did not fly to Fairbanks, arriving at 0200. Woof.

Today I did not fly from my hanger to the washrack and back.

But the Racer got a much needed bath.

Scouted areas with my jeep in Sierras to land, found one at 11,400 ft……..





This strip is at 10,000 ft, the rocks are to keep away rodents……..

That's a cool jeep!

That's a cool jeep!

Thanks, '79 CJ7 with modified 360, a simple workhorse that gets it done. The folding windshield is a must for me.

Didn't fly. Enjoyed a little help getting an obstacle cleared from in front of the hanger.

Putting Aero Classic 21" x 8.00 - 6 mains on my nosedragger RANS... started last night, it was 17 deg in the hanger. Along with some other mods.... it's too cold and miserable, but I want back in the air.. this sickness we have

15 x 6.00 - 6 (left) that was under the wheel pants.. 18" (16.5 or so actual) that I ran for about a week before deciding to go bigger.. this will be up front now.. new 21" er on the right....

Had to sit and watch Handsrdirty in his Highlander with a friend and AviatorPA11 stop by the strip in their outstanding aircraft.






But, at least my drinking buddy stayed around after they left….

I did not fly to a cool old grass strip in Ranger, Texas on this fine morning. I discovered Mr. Rat has been living in my airplane for a week or two. He made quite a mess and chewed on some wires around my battery box.

slowmover wrote:I did not fly to a cool old grass strip in Ranger, Texas on this fine morning. I discovered Mr. Rat has been living in my airplane for a week or two. He made quite a mess and chewed on some wires around my battery box.

Wouldn't have happened in his dominion... for some reason it's impossible to make this photo post upright.

Did not fly over to the ranch today because I'm still not sure my dog knows the difference between "switch off" and "switch on".

But eventually I plan to teach him and get him to hold the brakes for me as well!....Wanted to fly over to the ranch with the dog today, but still haven't worked this out with the dog, although he does great in the Cessna. Decided to drive instead. I am thinking of coming up with some way to cover the rear throttle so I can put him in the back seat.

This strip is at 10,000 ft, the rocks are to keep away rodents……..


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That sure looks like Coyote Flats.

That sure looks like Coyote Flats.

Ding ding ding…Here it is last year….

The last time I took off from there, the DA was over 14k. Got my attention.

The weather precluded flying down to my Mother-in-law's to pick up our dog, so we ended up driving instead.
On the way, we got to see a small benefit concert by one of my favorite Canadians: Les Stroud, best known as "Survivor Man" from TV.



He's a pretty cool guy, a great harmonica player, and told some great stories from his adventures and misadventures.

The funniest story was that he'd gotten lost just the other day, while jogging up a mountain here in the Rogue Valley. He eventually found a road and got a ride back to town from a guy in a truck. He was hoping the guy didn't watch his show...

I'm geographically separated from my plane right now, so to take advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather I went hiking with a friend from work. We went up the Ron Coleman Trail in the Franklin Mountain State Park. 3.5 miles one-way and 1860 ft elevation change. Started at 4860 msl and peaked at 6710. It was fairly tough, especially on the way up. We stopped about 4 or 5 times to catch our lungs. The joys of sojourning at high elevations from near sea level!

There's an initial steep section that carries you to the ridgeline. From that point you travel the ridge north and up until the first chain assisted vertical climb, which leads to a second and longer chain assisted section to "the window." The second chain section has 3 parts and is much longer than the first. After that you can follow the trail to the other side of the mountain, but we continued north and up to the peak of South Franklin Mountain. The views along the trail were great but the ones at the peak were incredible. A bird's eye view without a plane!

Here's some pics:

In the middle of the first really steep section, looking back at the trail head.


Same place, looking more ENE.


Top of the first steep section looking back at the trail head.


Looking west from about 1/4 way along the ridge.


The first chain section.


The second chain section with the window at the top.


View through the window.


From the peak looking north.



Looking NE.


Looking east.


Afterwards we went to Texas Roadhouse for steaks. A great day!

^^^^Great looking hike CamTom!^^^^

I spent a week on the coast mountain biking between rain storms.





Fantastic trails in there... It's astounding to see the size of the redwood stumps from the old growth logging. Just monsters.