John & Anne Wiley

2012/09/22

Fire & Ice

Filed under: AB Joy Adventure,Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Tripp — John @ 07:28

The relatively short “dogleg” of our AB Joy return flight from Banff to Invermere provided some contrasts. First, in the clearer air where it had recently rained the remains of a glacier beckoned in the distance. I was tempted to divert a little closer when this scene came into view.

2837 Glacier Apparition

2837 Glacier Apparition

When we were closer as we passed, I snapped a two-pic closeup with zoom to study the interplay of ice and stone.

2843 Left Flank

2843 Left Flank

2844 Right Flank

2844 Right Flank

Later as smoke was once again building in the air I caught this mixture of mountains, ribbons of rain, and streams of sunlight that creates a matrix still refreshing for me all these miles and moments later.

2877 Matrix

2877 Matrix

As we rounded a sharp bend in the valley, suddenly it was apparent why the smoke had been increasing. This fresh fire was still burning unperturbed, though I’d heard another pilot radio in a report on it.

2890 Smoke Source

2890 Smoke Source

We landed for a rest at Invermere, and invested considerable time trying to decide whether to look for a room there or fly more miles over this now familiar territory toward the border before dark. As you may recall from my first post about this day, we did decide to continue. Just as I went out to fuel Tripp and get ready, one of the several helicopters parked there took off to head back toward the fire.

2955 Dangerous Mission

2955 Dangerous Mission

Now maybe it’s my age, but even though I greatly respect and appreciate the pilots who do it, the idea of flying low over a fire in a helicopter holds no appeal. An aside: Being a 172Q, Tripp is the perfect plane for our mission: happy to fly relatively low and slow but still able to go over 140mph when you want or need to; ability to carry lots of gear, fuel, and four real adults; relatively inexpensive to own and operate (about 2x our car); great view of the planet; extremely safe, simple, and easy to fly; reliable and easy to repair aided by the fact that every aircraft mechanic has worked on them and parts are plentiful; and a great umbrella on the ground for shade and shelter. All that said, the one aircraft I’d love to own is a helicopter. Not because it’s pretty much the opposite in all those categories, but because it can fly even lower and slower plus hover and (with inflatable pontoons) land most anywhere there’s a small clearing or pond. But unlike Tripp, you can’t ever fully relax and enjoy the view.

So in the next post I’ll share more pix from this magical and relaxing voyage. 🙂

2012/09/21

We interrupt…

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,SB Region — John @ 20:56

The TV news used to say, “We interrupt this broadcast…” and then show something like this. Snapped from our driveway at 11:35am Friday morning. Nice way to start a lunch conversation. 🙂

0939 Jumbo & Shuttle

0939 Jumbo & Shuttle

I heard startled neighbors shout with delight when they looked up to see what the noise was. Tried to call a few friends and alert them as we looked and I snapped, but didn’t reach anyone. I’d been checking online to see when it would pass (wonder if it was on Flight Aware), and went out to watch thinking it would be offshore. We’d even thought about flying and trying to coax ATC into letting us get within a mile for a telephoto pic of it over SB. As is often the case, everything worked out perfectly since it passed almost directly overhead at relatively low altitude. Would have been fun to listen on ATC, but our portable transceiver is in Tripp. Within a couple of minutes it was already passing from view, so I snapped this wide shot showing the two fighter jets escorting it.

0942 Endeavor & Friends

0942 Endeavour & Friends

I can hardly wait to see tonite’s news for all the great shots of it passing over SF and LA. There’s also sure to be some great stuff on the NASA website and a rapidly growing collection of stills on their Flickr page for the flight.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming: More on the AB Joy trip to come soon…

2012/09/20

To Banff

Filed under: AB Joy Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 20:14

Unlike our flight North up the valley, heading home we flew the extra few miles down to see Banff and then back up the valley to follow the road over to Invermere in the next valley. As we passed the place where we’d joined the valley toward Jasper from Golden, the weather started closing in.

2752 Weather Eye

2752 Weather Eye

My weather eye and backup planning was on high alert as I saw the dark clouds ahead (right side of the pic) and ensured that it stayed bright behind (left side). I watched for lightning and listened for the static it makes on the radios. I kept track of airports we could nip into if we needed to land and wait for the weather to pass. Still, our path to Banff was good so I kept going. Before long the weather that had been just off to the left of our path was behind us, and the beauty of this wavy ridge near Banff rewarded our cautious alertness.

2777 Wavy Ridge

2777 Wavy Ridge

Soon we rounded the bend into Banff and saw the grand old lodge in the storm shadow at the base of the scalloped ridge gleaming among the clouds.

2790 Old Banff

2790 Old Banff

I think of this as “Old Banff” because I imagine the lodge was the original (and still the most powerful) attraction. We passed to to fly over the town, off to the left outside this pic. It’s a more ordinary largish alpine tourist town. There’s a pretty lake and miles of forest dotted with cat’s eye ponds like this.

2800 Cat's Eye

2800 Cat’s Eye

Then we turned back toward the lodge for a closer look, and on the way got a look at the other side of the scalloped ridge. From here it looks more like all the other sheer cliffs in this part of the Rockies.

2805 Scallop Spine

2805 Scallop Spine

As we passed the lodge, a splash of sunlight hit the tip as if to remind us what a great place this would be for a special retreat, vacation, wedding, or just to enjoy spending a lot of money.

2812 Banff Invitation

2812 Banff Lodge Invitation

After we flew the couple of miles back up the valley, at the turn toward Invermere we saw Louise’s sister. When we passed the actual famous Lake Louise on the way to Banff a few minutes before, it was hidden in the mists of a light rain and in deep shadow from a cloud so I didn’t bother trying to snap it. Besides, the glacier that once made it so special has retreated so far up the valley it’s a sad carcass of the postcard image. This one’s a little higher, and the glacier is still nearly down to the lake.

2825 Lake Un-Louise

2825 Lake Un-Louise

I was glad we saw this one, because it gave me a chance to share a snap that somewhat simulates a major attraction in this part of the Rockies. A place where major forces of nature and facets of geography combine to soothe the soul.

So now I will post this and return to celebrating the birthday of my favorite person on this planet, refreshed by this continued review of one of our favorite places on this planet. Happy Birthday, angel. 🙂

2012/09/19

Other Places

Filed under: AB Joy Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random — John @ 07:49

We flew along the valley to Jasper and then turned toward Banff. All along the way our senses were immersed in beauty. Sometimes it had the look of the southwest after a wet winter.

2563 Wyoming?

2563 Wyoming?

Then moments later it could have been a river scene in the Pacific northwest, still actually far to the south of us.

2564 Washington?

2564 Washington?

Other scenes looked like something from Mordor in Tolkien’s stories, with all the bleak rock a wizard works like this split peak.

2566 Mt Doom?

2566 Mt Doom?

As we passed Jasper (to the left in this pic) it looked at first like any small town. But the color of the lake (just above the center of this pic) looked fake. Even if you click to see the full-size version you probably can’t tell, but it’s a shade of green dye for a St. Patrick’s Day fountain. It was real though, because we saw several more up in the wilderness. Must be something about the minerals in the water.

2586 Boston Pond?

2586 Boston Pond?

Sometimes the peaks seemed to mingle with the clouds, as if something had swapped the world above and the world below.

2657 Upside Down?

2657 Upside Down?

Woven into the cliff faces here and there were wispy ribbons of rain like these, tenderly and patiently caressing immutable stone for ages until it melted away beneath them.

2683-704-11 Magic Ribbons?

2683-704-11 Magic Ribbons?

2012/09/18

Turning Home

Filed under: AB Joy Adventure,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random — John @ 07:57

Even though our flight from Hinton to Valemount was toward the south, it didn’t feel like we’d really turned toward home until the next day when we flew to Creston. That’s because Edmonton to Valemount was roughly following the main route toward the west coast of Canada. Now, after back-tracking a few miles to Jasper, we were roughly following the main route from there to the U.S. border a couple of miles past Creston in the South. On this day we’d retrace much of the route we took from Spokane to Jasper eight days earlier. A few minutes after takeoff we saw Mt. Robson peek around a corner on our way to Jasper.

2476 Peeking Peak

2476 Peeking Peak

As you can see, his wig-topped head was in the clouds so we were glad to have climbed up for our closer look when it was uncharacteristically clear. Heading back along our route from Edmonton felt like more detour and sightseeing. But in a few minutes we would enter the valley of wonders that enchant the route from Jasper on our first real miles toward home.

2491 Cloud Hat

2491 Cloud Hat

Our old pal Robson looked almost as if he were doffing a hat made of fluffy cloud, to bid us farewell as we passed by yet again. He looked all the more grand from here, seen in a glance at his full height. Still, it was much more fun and awe-inspiring to buzz around his head as we’d done. 🙂

2530 Dead & Dying

2530 Dead & Dying

Somehow we were even more struck on this day than when we flew the valley before, by an ominous feeling of Death. Vast swaths of forest were either dead or dying from beetle infestations brought on by global warming. It no longer gets cold enough here to kill the beetles in winter, so they thrive on the helpless trees that had adapted to live in a colder climate. On the bare peaks above them, the glaciers had already died leaving behind only bare stones rising as markers to the dead trees at their feet. We talked about it some in somber tones, and often we just surveyed this enormous graveyard in silence.

2546 Ribbon of Life

2546 Ribbon of Life

Even amid the destruction there is breathtaking beauty of course, and some sights like this roaring cascade that bring life to the eye and to their surroundings. So many places like this we watched sliding beneath Tripp’s stout wings, far from the highway and clearly unseen by many people other than passing aviators.

2553 Rushing Torrent

2553 Rushing Torrent

This water rushing down the mountain promises life for the valleys below, and refreshed our energy. So many more scenic places would nurture our souls on this passage. I’ll share more in the next post…

 

 

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