Arty's Ultimate Ultralight Adventure

Sunday, May 10, 2009

We had a marvelous flying day today - mostly marvelous, I'd say if I were honest about it. The not-so-marvelous part was the cold - and Randy's sadistic nature which had him tormenting me with in-the-air temperature reports. But I'm ahead of myself...

This was another early morning up and out. We had stayed at the Kanab, (UT) Airport last night, and when I woke up the wind was blowing. "It's coming from the north," Randy said in a matter-of-fact-of-course-we're-still-going-to-fly this-morning voice. I sighed, since that's the direction we were heading. More headwinds.

Our first leg was absolutely astounding. It's the second time I've made today's flight (the first time was on the way home from the disorganized Kolb fly-in, in Monument Valley in 2006.) As I flew it again, I couldn't believe I'd done it before - and that I was stupid enough to do it again! I climbed to the legal limit of 10,000' MSL and was still aware that there were really no good places to land. Why? Well, take a look at a map. We flew the road through Zion National Park. Absolutely the most incredible scenery ever - but all towering peaks of red rimrock and a snake-y narrow road far below in the canyon.

So breathtaking that it was worth every minute. And I know I shouldn't, but I really trust this engine. It hasn't coughed or hiccuped the entire trip. I knew when we left Kanab that I'd be maxing out on altitude, and had put on all my woolens and thermals and had double chemical heat warmers in each mitten. I was STILL cold! Since taking pictures means removing a mitten, and since I didn't want to see my fingers fall off with instant frostbite, this blog post unfortunately doesn't have any pictures. But they're still in my head - and all the superlatives in the dictionary wouldn't do the sight justice.

These pictures were all taken by Randy - aren't they stunning?

Outside Kanab

Zion

Somehow, we had a tailwind! And at 10,000' the air was fairly smooth. It was a long first leg, to Milford, UT. Randy kept giving me weather reports: "My thermometer shows 46° outside and 77° inside my cockpit." Great...my lips are turning blue so I can't give him the scathing comeback he deserves.

I was sorry to leave Zion behind and fly over the valley that Hurricane (the town) lies in.

Leaving Zion

Hurricane

The last time I flew this route it started to rain, and rained all the way to Cedar City. I remember being in severe pain. This time we just sailed on past - not only Hurricane, but Cedar City as well. The tail wind took us right into Milford, where I made a straight-in approach. It's a very low-traffic airport and I decided not to waste the gas in a pattern.

From Milford we flew to Tooele (pronounced Too-Ella,) UT. We were following a road, and I saw what looked like a wall of mountain ahead. I was already at 9000' (another cold, cold leg) and I couldn't imagine the road continuing to climb - yet it did. So instead of 4000' clearance, it was down to about 1500' between me and the highway. Then we were over the top and into a large valley - able to see the Great Salt Lake. WOW!!!

The last leg, from Tooele to Wendover, UT/NV (the town straddles the state line,) was absolute and pure joy. For one thing, we were flying low, (I was at 3-400' AGL,) so it wasn't cold. The other thing is that we were flying along the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Astoundingly beautiful when seen from the air, even from down low. Thanks to the tailwind, I was keeping pace with the cars and trucks on I-80. (The speed limit is 75 mph.) And lastly, Randy decided to fly along with me (we have seldom been in visual contact during this trip,) and as he dipped and soared and played around in the sky I was grinning from ear to ear. It was a truly joyous leg. I had forgotten to get out my camera but I know that Randy took lots of pics. And here they are:

Bonneville Salt Flats

By the time we got to Wendover, I had decided that I wanted a motel room and a prime rib dinner! We had been in the air for almost 6.5 hours today and I was worn out. A fellow at the airport (who used to fly Pterodactyls and sell Wizards,) took us to get gas and then dropped us off at the Rainbow Casino/Hotel. I had a fabulous prime rib dinner for $13.99 and the room - huge and wonderfully comfortable - is only $45.

Tomorrow our overnight destination is Nampa/Caldwell ID. I talked with my good friends Jeannie & Rob Allen tonight, and they said the weather there is perfect. Once we leave Nampa/Caldwell we're only a day and a half flight from home. But when I talked to Norm, he said the weather at home is rain, with more forecast. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we can make it over the Cascades. How ironic if we're weathered in only a few hours from home! In the entire six weeks, we've only been prevented from flying for 3 days due to weather. Maybe our luck will hold. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And here's a P.S. photo that Randy took of me flying over Lake Powell.