Brazilians Over the Grand Canyon
This story starts in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was there on business around a year ago when my client and friend, Aurelio, came into the conference room with some questions about an approach plate for Chicago. It turns out he used to be an ultra-light pilot and still flies MS flight simulator on a regular basis. We talked quite a bit about airplanes and I made a note to be sure to get him up in the plane when the opportunity presented itself.
Last week the opportunity presented itself. I was in San Francisco with Aurelio and two of his associates and they needed to go to Las Vegas after we were done with our meetings. I offered to fly them to Vegas, but thought perhaps we should go see the Grand Canyon along the way – even though its not quite on the way. Winter weather turned out to be a non-issue thanks to the drought we are having, and winter also enabled us to get reservations at the otherwise unobtainable El Tovar Lodge on the rim of the canyon. We were set.
We took off from Oakland airport and headed straight to Yosemite. Great views! We then did a dog-led south over high terrain to hit Mammoth Pass before heading directly over Las Vegas and on to the Grand Canyon. I have done some canyon flights before and still had the waypoints programmed into the GPS so the routing through the special corridors was easy.
I have to say the flight was a little long (about 3.5 hours), but they really got to see some great views of two national parks. Aurelio flew almost the entire way and except for an 180 knot approach to landing that scared the bejesus out of the passengers, he did a great job of handling the airplane. I think Gallo and Alexandre in the back enjoyed it, except Alexandre asked a few times how much a jet costs. He likes fast cars and I think he’d like a faster airplane!
We stayed on the rim and enjoyed a fine meal (thanks Aurelio), took a nice walk on the rim in the morning, then got a cab back to the airport and on to Vegas. The main Las Vegas airport is too expensive to park my plane there ($80 a night), but by buying fuel I was able to drop off the passengers there at no charge, which was great because flying the approach into McCarran is a lot of fun with the Casinos right there next to the airport.
Captain Aurelio
From 90 degrees in summertime Brazil, to 30 degrees in the canyon
It was a little dificult to stay under the clouds and still be legal
On the way back to Las Vegas
Mono Lake Fly-In (with just me)
I’ve managed to get quite a few photos of Mono Lake over the years without ever actually going there to take photos. I just took them on the way by. In fact, I’ve never gone anywhere to take photos – I’ve always just taken pictures where I happen to be. Until this trip.
I’ve wanted to go to Mono Lake in the winter for a few years, but the weather should be good enough to fly but cloudy enough for good photos. Cold enough for clear air, yet not too much snow. And it has to fit into the family schedule. Everything finally came together when I realized I could stop in Lee Vining for the night after I flew my daughter back to college in San Luis Obispo after the new year. A weak storm system was moving through which would bring some nice clouds although I was a bit worried about wind.
It turned out to be a fun trip. I flew Belyn to SLO and used the crew car to shop, then run her up to her apartment (and fix her printer), but then I realized I didn’t have that much time left because of the short winter days. It took a little over an hour to fly across the Central Valley over Fresno, then over the Sierra Nevada. I flew through Mammoth Pass, then dropped the gear and pulled off most of the power in order to maintain a slower airspeed for turbulence on descent. Then I turned left 90 degrees and dropped steeply down into Lee Vining. There was a slight crosswind on landing, but nothing like the 20 knots or so I had through Mammoth Pass.
I landed about 4:00 pm so I really hustled it down to Mono lake in order to get there for sunset photos. It takes about an hour to hike and bushwack through sagebrush and thorns to get to the lake and I barely got there in time. Fortunately for me although the sun had already set, the red glow of the darkening sky had just begun! It was fantastic.
I hiked back up to the plane in the dark and quickly decided I would rather be warm in the plane rather than try to cook up some food outside in the 20 degree night air (I don’t want to use a stove inside because it would be disappointing to burn my plane up), so I ate a bagel, apple and some cold pre-cooked rice mix for dinner. Honestly, It was nice and warm in a down bag and I had a decent book so it wasn’t bad. (for those interested in the mechanics, if I take the seats out on one side of the plane it’s perfect for one person to lay down. If it isn’t going to rain I just leave the seat or seats under the plane until morning). I got up at 5:00 am and hiked back down to the lake for the sunrise. I have to admit that when the alarm went off I was thinking that the sunset was pretty nice and perhaps I didn’t need any sunrise photos… But I finally got myself to step outside and start hiking.
This time I had plenty of time, which was good because it is definitely harder to find your way to the section of the lake that has some nice tufa formations by headlamp. The sunset was nice, but the best photo of the morning came when I turned around to leave and the warm morning light produced vivid colors on the tufa and sage. I was rather hungry so after the hike back up I rode my folding bike the mile into Lee Vining for breakfast and hot coffee. To top off an excellent trip, Lee Vining has great cell phone coverage so I was able to get some calls and emails done without feeling too guilty about missing much work.
The photos are arranged chronologically, from the trip across the Sierras, the sunset and then the sunrise.
Foothills near Mariposa
High Sierras in January - Where's the snow?
Ritter Range on descent
Last Rays - and I'm rushing to get to the lake
Ah, but its worth it...
Mono Lake sunset with crisp winter air and some nice clouds
Mono Lake Tufa Formations
And now, about 12 hours later, the sunrise
Mono Lake sunrise
A surprise in the early light. One of the best photos and its not of the lake.
Self portrait after sunrise. My hands are nearly frozen at this point.
Flying to Mexico with The Flying Samaritans
North Pacific coast of Baja
A friend Mark that also has a Cessna 210 invited me to fly a mission for the Flying Samaritans, a group of doctors that run free clinics in Mexico. The chapter closest to me, the Mother Lode Chapter, runs a clinic in San Quintin, about 1/3 of the way down the baja peninsula. The first mission you fly has to be with a pilot that has done it before, so Mark offered to be my copilot which was great as we had some catching up do on our personal lives.
Airstrip, next to tented Tomato fields
We took off from Placerville, CA at a comfortable time Friday morning in order to miss any morning fog along the coast in Baja California. We landed at Ensenada and immediately ran into customs problems. The Docs had some expired dermatology creams that were out of date and the Mexican officials were pretty upset about it. I had heard before that the expiration date on most meds are extremely conservative (e.g. lose 1% of their efficacy per year, or don’t lose it all), so I was surprised the officials would make such a big deal out of this. It was also pointed out to me that the airport commandant was wearing eye glasses that were prescribed and provided free by Joe, one of the guys with us! What the hell? Give the docs a break!
The next day I understood a little better what was going on. A second plane went through, and one of the customs officials explained to them, “The last group had expired meds. My mom lives in San Quintin and I don’t want her getting any of those bad drugs”. OK, I guess if they think they are dangerous drugs I can understand.
After landing. I thought the ski mask was a nice touch.
We spent hours in Ensenada dealing with this issue and we started to get nervous as it got later, and we knew a night landing on the San Quintin dirt airstrip was out of the question. Finally they let us go after Joe cataloged all the meds that they confiscated (skin creams, mind you).
We flew down the coast until we hit the San Quintin bay, the docs pointed out the airstrip and we made an uneventful landing, the best kind. We were met by a group of soldiers who had more paperwork for us, then those soldiers camped next to the plane while we were there. The docs said sometimes the soliders are there, and sometimes not. So I didn’t know if we were safer they were there, or perhaps they were there because they knew something we didn’t…..
San Quintin Clinic
The clinic work was satisfying. The other plane had mechanical issues (bad alternator) and didn’t show up until mid day Saturday. So Mark and I were recruited to take blood sugar levels, blood pressure, temps and help with the eye clinic. And go get fish tacos for everyone at lunch. My wife was surprised I could prick fingers and handle the blood, but I reminded her this was far different from the time I helped her at her vet clinic and a lacerated dog ear spurted blood all over me and I almost passed out.
Not surprisingly, it turns out part of the trip is not only providing medical help to whoever shows up, it is also about enjoying fresh Mexican seafood, fresh lime margaritas and lively conversation about flying, politics and Joes’s romantic life.
The most impressive aspect of the clinic is the commitment some of these guys have. Unbelievable, really. Joe is down almost every month to prescribe eyeglasses, then deliver them (free) the next month to the patients. And I think he is paying for the eyeglasses. Bruce and Bill have been coming down for 19 years. That is a hell of a lot of patients, margaritas and fish tacos.
I was a little nervous about the trip back, because after 9/11 there are new security procedures for flying back into the country (eAPIS manifest filings and accurate timing of flight plans) and if you screw up they will hit you with a big fine. Having Mark was a comfort because if I got into trouble I was going to try to blame it all on him.
Bill and Joe in the eye clinic
Dr. Mark (well, more like Nurse Mark)
This is where our Tomatos come from
Sunrise
Empty Tomato Tent
Sunset from Hotel Room
Biking Monterey to Santa Cruz
Ney-J in Monterey
My son is, now almost 18, is of the age of serious girlfriends. The problem is that his girlfriend is going to school in Santa Cruz and he lives with us in the foothills. There is no
airport in Santa Cruz so we hatched a plan that I could fly him to Watsonville and then he could bike the rest of the way. I was a little disappointing to learn that Watsonville really isn’t far from Santa Cruz, so we modified the plan to fly to Monterey, and he would bike from there.
The clouds were right there at the edge of the Marina airport so I did an instrument approach. It was clear by the time I left. Ney-J said the biking was very nice, with either bike path or wide shoulders the entire way.
Flying Support for the Trans-Sierra Adventure Race
A flying friend, Allan, invited me to help fly support with him for the Gold Rush Adventure race (www.goldrushar.com). The race is a five day race that starts on the east side of the Sierras in beautiful Bridgeport and ends up in the western Sierra foothill town of Columbia. The teams can’t use GPS, and must make their way hiking, swimming, biking and kayaking. It is a grueling race to say the least.
Flying support mainly meant taking photographers up to get some video footage of the course. Allan and I did a couple of flights one evening, but I suggested to the head photographer that if he really wanted some good shots then we should meet in the morning just before dawn for a sunrise flight over the crest of the Sierras. Allan and I got up early and headed out to the airport in the dark, and at first no one showed up. But a photographer did show up, and it was one of the most spectacular flights I’ve done.
I was concentrating on giving him a good photography platform and also keeping the plane away from the rocks so I didn’t get any photos myself. But two moments were especially memorable, and I can’t wait to see the video. One was a slow 360 that I did near the crest of the sierras just as the sun was coming up. The other was a steep power-off descent down the Twin Lakes canyon next to Matterhorn peak.
Bridgeport Airport
Thanks to Bill for these evening photos taken from my plane:
Bridgeport Meadows
Sierra Crest at Dusk
Birthday Hike up Mt. Whitney
Betsy turned 50 and as a present to herself wanted to hike Mt. Whitney alone. She’s already done it numerous times and various ways (main trail, mountaineer’s route and east face), but always with someone. So why did she want to hike it alone? She really enjoys hiking at her own pace, which is fast, and she wanted to just get out there alone and hike it at her pace and see what happens.
What happens is that she does it really fast and is up at the top at 8:45 am and down just past 1:00 pm. Wow. No afternoon thunderstorm danger on that hike!
So she could do this in one weekend I flew her down and drove her up to the trailhead at 4:00 am Sunday morning. It was a little bit of a bummer for me to get up for a nice early alpine start but not actually do anything. But I did get to do a nice bike ride with my son later in the day.
Sunrise on the Mt. Whitney Trail (photo by Bets)
Stuck in Lone Pine, I took photos of flowers
Surprise at Virginia Lakes
Every year my wife Betsy takes a hiking trip with a group of women in the Yosemite backcountry. They drive the 4 or 5 hours down highway 395 and usually stay in a different lodge or tent-cabins each year to base their hiking out of. This year they stayed at Virginia Lakes, which is up a road off 395 into a high valley about 9,500 feet.
I told my wife I would take a bike ride when she was away, but I didn’t tell her my exact plans. I flew to Lee Vining, then got on my bike and rode up to Virginia lakes. I knew the group was off hiking in Lyle canyon, so I left a note on her cabin door, “Hi Sweetie, I hope you had a nice hike – Your Secret Admirer”. She knows me and it wasn’t much of a mystery to her, but the other women were taken off guard and wondered who left it and how they got there. Betsy has a bit of a reputation for being adventuresome, so when one of them heard it was me, she commented, “Geesh, you guys are meant for each other”. Yeah, I guess we are.
The Road Less Traveled (Mono Lake)
Secret Fishing spot at Virginia Lakes - Don't tell anyone!
Grand Canyon Storms
Every now and then I end up on a truly fantastic journey in the plane. Challenging, fun, scenic, and constantly changing. This was one of those journeys.
It was a business trip to the Phoenix area and since the first meeting was at 9:00 am I flew out the night before. I decided (well, why not?) to land at the Grand Canyon that night, and head out with my bike and camera to spend some time on the rim of the Grand Canyon. It is actually a fantastic place for a road bike because they have closed the rim road to cars and only allow shuttle buses and bikes. So I was able to bike along, occasionally in the rain, stopping at various viewpoints as the sun got lower and the light changed in the canyon. The weather and rain kept the crowds away and I really had a good time riding and waiting for the light and weather to create a good photo opportunity.
By the way, someone commented that I should have an occasional photo of me on here, so I asked a fellow tourist on the rim to take my photo and have included it.
The next morning I got up before dawn at my hotel and got ready to bike back to my plane (only one mile), when I noticed the sky was lighting up with lightening. Whoops! So much for the rule of thumb that the southwest is always flyable in the morning. I got to my plane and as it started to get light I could see I could fly and avoid the nearby storms. Still, my XM weather radar on the plane was showing lines of thunderstorms blocking my path to Phoenix. It would be a challenging flight.
I took off from the Grand Canyon and was treated to a spectacular sunrise showing itself through a line of storm cells. Almost unbelievable. From that point on I flew the crookedest path I’ve ever flown as I weaved around weather. I did get the plane wet in virga but in the end I was comfortable that I flew the route in a safe manner.
The journey didn’t end there. At the end of my meetings in the afternoon the thunderstorms were still going on. I flew a more westerly route towards home and it was easy to see-and-avoid the cells. However it started to get dark and see-and-avoid doesn’t work as well at night so I decided to stop at Death Valley for the night and continue on the morning. Being mid-September I thought I could camp at the airport, but I stepped out of the plane into 113 degree heat and blowing 15 mph. That is WAY too hot and windy to sleep, so I got out my bike and rode to the Furnace Creek Ranch and luckily got the last room. Apparently Death Valley is very popular with Europeans even in the extreme heat of the summer. We had weekend plans at home so I got up very early Saturday morning and made the one and half hour flight home in good weather, in time to join my family on the river.
Grand Canyon Storms
Canyon Rainbow
Sunrise and Storm Cells
The Sun and The Rain
Me (about to get wet)
Markleeville Road Biking
For road bikers Markleeville is most famous for the Markleeville Death Ride and many bikers go there to do one or two sections of the death ride (for example Monitor or Ebbets pass). However there is some great biking right from the airport that isn’t so tough. For example, a great medium length ride would be to do a loop from the airport on Airport Rd to Diamond Valley Road, Highway 89 back to Airport Rd. Another fine ride would be to ride to Grover’s hot springs and back.
I flew there one afternoon to do Ebbet’s pass. What a beautiful area. I got a little cold near the top and realized when I saw the frozen lake that it was pretty high in altitude.
I have to admit I did cheat here on the photo of the bear. I saw that a month ago in the same area, but with my wife and dogs on a hike off Poor Boy Rd. We drove there.
Partially Frozen Kinney Res.
Beautiful Bear, Beautiful Meadow
Markleeville Airport
Hood River Biking
My son is a camp counselor at a ski camp at Mt. Hood and I enjoy helping him get up and back from that area. Last year I took the opportunity to climb and ski Mt. Hood and this year I took my road bike and mountain bike for some riding.
It is a spectacular place to ride, both trail and road. Really, some of the best of both. I did the famous Surveyors Ridge ride on my mountain bike with great views of Mt. Hood most of the way. I stopped to work on my pedal and a colorful little bird came and sat near me. Very nice.
I did two road rides, one from Hood River up to Parkdale, and another on the old Columbia river highway to The Dalles and back to Hood River. One section is so good its ridiculous. It is closed to cars and is a freshly paved road open to bikes and pedestrians. Since it is as wide as a road there is no problem with the pedestrians. It sits above the Columbia river with stunning views and even goes through two old tunnels.
My son told me about the Ice Caves near Mt. Adams, so I spent some time there with my camera. Its a lava tube cave, and as snow melts above from the sun it seeps into the cave and freezes. Although the best ice is in the spring, supposedly there is ice there all summer in the deeper recesses.
I seem to have a lot of photos of Shasta as I fly by. Here is yet another.
Someone watching me fix my bike
Ice Caves
More Ice Cave
California Thunderstorms (and Tornadoes)
I had some business meetings in the Riverside and Ontario areas of Southern California last month on a Tuesday/Wednesday. On Thursday my wife was to go into minor surgery so it was kind of important – make that pretty darn important – to be back home. For a few days it was forecast to be scattered showers in the CA central valley with isolated thunderstorms, and that didn’t scare me since I would be in the valley and could see and avoid them. Had I had to cross the sierras I would have been scared.
As it turns out, this was the day that small tornadoes touched down and destroyed some crops. It was a wild weather day to be sure, especially for California, but my see and avoid plan was sound. I did see, and I did avoid. I ended up seeing a lot of bad stuff near where I wanted to land so I diverted, landed in Rancho Murietta, waited an hour, then continued on to my home base of Placerville in good weather.
My wife, knowing it isn’t wise to 100% count on me when flying, had two back-up rides home from the hospital for the next day. When I told her I diverted and landed, she thought it was all over. I told her I was pretty sure the bad weather would move past Placerville and allow me to land before it got dark, and luckily it did.
Look for route line on iPad near big bad red area (I'm on the ground here waiting)
Waiting to take off again
Awesome shaft of rain. Folsom Lake is in background.
I always enjoy those lens shaped clouds known as Lenticular clouds, and it makes me think about the wind that creates them. The big ones like these also make me thankful that I’m enjoying them from the ground and not from the air.
These were taken in the Spring of 2011 from near Placerville looking east towards the Crystal Range of the Sierra Nevada.
Sunset Lenticulars
Black and White Lenticulars
Panorama (Click to expand)
