John & Anne Wiley

2014/06/13

Two High

Filed under: 4C Adventure,Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random — John @ 20:52

After our wonderful 4/23 overnite in Durango (we want to go back!), the 4C Adventure continued with our first foray into the high Rocky Mountains. As you’ll recall from the quick 4/24 post I did during the trip, after breakfast in Durango we did a quick detour to check out Chimney Rock and then got this high overview of Durango on our way to the first of two high passes on our way to Denver.

0267 Delightful Durango

0267 Delightful Durango

Though we totally trust Tripp and keep her tip top, as extra insurance we followed the highway north. It was tempting to detour through the valley where the Durango tourist train goes, but we got a distant glimpse and this more direct main valley was quite pretty enough.

0275 Climbing

0275 Climbing

By now we were already quite high, so opening the window for snaps like this was invigorating. 🙂

Another temptation was the high pass to Teluride, which would have been a fairly short detour but with no major highway to follow and winds predicted to increase if we delayed.

0305 Teluride Temptation

0305 Teluride Temptation

Soon we were surrounded by frozen lakes and snowy peaks that were wearing dust from Arizona and probably a few planes that had flown this route in less favorable conditions.

0310 Rock, Snow, Dust

0310 Rock, Snow, Dust

We were glad to be in trusty Tripp, following a major highway, and in unusually good weather. 🙂

Before long the pass opened out into the high plain where we soon turned east toward Monarch Pass for our second scoot thru the Rockies.

0318 Leaving First Pass

0318 Leaving First Pass

In a few minutes we were following the highway along Blue Mesa Reservoir, where we saw tributaries with rapids and some small frisky waterfalls like this.

0355 Small Falls

0355 Small Falls

Approaching the pass more mountains loomed, as we climbed a little more and nudged closer to the highway for the high point of the day.

0371 Nearing Monarch

0371 Nearing Monarch

Around the top we were surprised to see drive-in theater screens like these.

0378 Not CA

0378 Not CA

No, we’re not in SoCA so those are certainly not for movies. I guess maybe cell towers, microwave relays or something to do with radar? We never did find out, but they sure look odd and must take a lot of work to build and keep functional where wind and weather are often so extreme. We loved finally flying the Rockies, were glad conditions made it so easy and comfortable without need to stop to wait out unexpected weather, and enjoyed watching the terrain open out as we followed the highway and river out of Salida.

0387 Salida Satisfaction

0387 Salida Satisfaction

2014/06/11

Lifetimes

Filed under: 4C Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random — John @ 19:39

Our 4C Adventure seems lifetimes ago, even though just over a month has passed. April 23 we parted paths with Zubair and family to fly on a wide detour from Cortez to Durango. After circling and snapping these pix of Shiprock we headed southwest toward Canyon de Chelly, not realizing that would take us across the edge of the area of AZ identified as Red Rock on the aviation chart.

9753 Lukachukai Life

9753 Lukachukai Life

In little more than an hour we’d gone from a life of flying with friends, to circling stupendous Shiprock and now to taking in these wonders of sculpted stone where N-13 descends from Roof Butte to Lukachukai. Even after so many rock formations of this kind, we couldn’t help detouring to the northwest along the ridge to explore more. Where we finally turned back direct to Canyon de Chelly we saw these blades and spires quite similar to Monument Valley.

9780 Mini Monuments

9780 Mini Monuments

A few minutes later we were gazing into the towering cliffs of Canyon de Chelly, drinking in an entirely different life down on that broad riverbed.

9875 Canyon de Chelly

9875 Canyon de Chelly

Even with the dust kicking up all across the region, the views were spectacular. In many places like this, time seemed to stand still even though it also seemed to speed us across more lifetimes as we lazily toured these enchantments.

9987 Carved Canyons

9987 Carved Canyons

We stopped at Chinle for fuel, stretch, and a tiny taste of the life there as we spoke with the friendly airport manager. Then back into dream time on a different route past Cove, AZ along the edge of the area identified as Red Valley on gMaps and past many other wonderments until we reached Durango. So close to Cortez, yet after these six hours, now many lifetimes away as we wandered in silence past the antique train Anne had once ridden up into the Rockies.

0175 Train-ing

0175 Train-ing

2014/06/09

Contrast

Filed under: 4C Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 07:19

There was a “yarn bomb” in the SB mountains this weekend, and it was quite a contrast with our 4C trip.

3707 Yarn Bomb, Lizard's Mouth

3707 Yarn Bomb, Lizard’s Mouth (click to enlarge)

Most of our rocks have mild colors, compared with the bright yarns woven into patterns and then carefully wrapped around selected rocks in the area named Lizard’s Mouth. The temporary art was removed after the weekend, but it drew crowds while there. But back during our 4C Adventure, the strong wind had kicked up dust so there wasn’t much contrast as we spotted Monument Valley in the distance.

8740 Dusty Monument Valley

8740 Dusty Monument Valley

That same wind also made for strong turbulence, especially on the far side of the rocks. But we passed close approaching on the upwind side for this shot of my fav among these formations.

9031 Statue Family

9031 Statue Family

For me it’s a family standing in a solemn line. A collection of individual columns, with the first two in the smaller left section pressing their “heads” together for comfort. As we passed, the sunny side came into view in context along with a lone column next to the distant butte.

9087 Sunny Side

9087 Sunny Side

But we pressed on toward Cortez, arriving in time to rent a car and drive out for a hike around Mesa Verde. Another major contrast to the flight we’d just made from Page across the fantasy terrain and through Monument Valley.

9310 Mesa Verde

9310 Mesa Verde

It never ceases to amaze me how much contrast flying can put into a single day!

2014/06/08

Strange Colors

Filed under: 4C Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature — John @ 18:25

Back on that day we flew out of Page, AZ toward Cortez, CO looking for a safe path across broken terrain, there were strange colors.

8639 Colors & Caves

8639 Colors & Caves

The camera couldn’t seem to capture the colors, but the rock was really interesting here far from roads. The caves accented alternating layers of whitish lines eroded from the sandstone. The shapes made a magical topographic effect in many places.

8646 Topo Tumult

8646 Topo Tumult

When we finally approached the edge of Monument Valley, the colors had shifted and the air was more laden with dust but the views were still striking.

8695 Into Monument

8695 Into Monument

Off to the left of these buttes was a lonely spire, small by Monument Valley standards yet towering far above the trees at the bend in that dry creek bed.

8708 Tiny Giant

8708 Tiny Giant

I seem to alternate between enchantment with the arid spirit of this place, and fascination with what geologic forces could have possibly left that thin spire in a miles-wide valley.

2014/06/01

Alternates

Filed under: 4C Adventure,Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 22:36

Pilots think about Alternates, and visually I also enjoy alternates. Like taking a break from the intriguing formations of reddish rock on our 4C Adventure, to look at pix like this from our recent overnite trip to “shower” love on our recently-engaged niece in San Diego.

3608 Alternate

3608 Alternate

The lush blues and greens of coastal California near Laguna Niguel offer a welcome alternate scene. Aviation alternates include planning for extra airports along the route in case the need should arise, and even alternatives to airports in rare and extreme situations. “In a car you can just pull over,” people say. But pilots know that aircraft are designed and maintained to much higher standards making that a very rare need. Also that most planes glide quite well and most areas offer plenty of safe places to land other than airports. Most areas.

8599 No Airport

8599 No Airport

Beautiful as this area near Lake Powell is, it’s no airport. The day we took off from Page headed to Cortez, CO the idea was to fly past Monument Valley. Since we’d flown that basic route along the lake shore before, my hope was to find a different route farther South. Lest I worry the majority who harbor an unreasoned terror of flight, I hasten to add Fact #1: We detoured along the edge of this unwelcoming terrain.

8593 On Edge

8593 On Edge

As you can see, the inhospitable view toward the lake didn’t match what we were actually flying over. Fact #2: We adapted to the terrain, and climbed higher once we chose a safe route across it at a narrower point with plains on both sides. But along the way we quite enjoyed the variety of slot canyons, sandstone amphitheaters, shallow caves, open spaces, vegetation variations, and majestic buttes.

8630 Butte Beauty

8630 Butte Beauty

I’m learning to understand the unreasoned fear of flying, yet it’s still surprising to me that people will skydive out of a perfectly good airplane yet be afraid to even think about flying in it. 🙂

“Fear is the little-death”     –Frank Herbert

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