John & Anne Wiley

2011/09/06

High Road to Stanley

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Smiley Adventure,Tripp — John @ 08:31

I’m looking at the pix from 8/18 and am again flying solo from Smiley to Stanley and back. Here are a few more pix from that day, overflowing with Sawtooth scenes high among the mountains that will return yet again in my dreams tonight. First up, a spike of rock guarding a valley of slumbering little lakes.

3988 Shepherd Spire

3988 Shepherd Spire

Now a baby lake hiding above the dominant one that has attracted a large congregation of trees, and the attention of all the nearby peaks.

4021 Peekaboo Lake

4021 Peekaboo Lake

Variations in color deep in this next one makes it for me a translucent smooth gemstone set among the sharp stones.

4026 Flat Gem

4026 Smooth Gem

I just love how clearly the patch of snow was reflected in the deep blue of a long lake that drains in a long cascade at the right. It’s diminutive companion at the left has such delicate shadings from green to blue.

4037 Peaceful Blue Lake

4037 Peaceful Blue Lake

It takes me back to a meditation I once did on the theme of a peaceful blue lake. The one I imagined was much like this, though in less rugged terrain. After a long and relaxing look at this refreshing sight, I turned toward Stanley which is reputed to be one of the coldest places in the continental U.S. (-57F record according to wiki). I decided to descend in a circle over the airport and check out the wind and the runway (running diagonally up from the bottom-right). I knew there had been recent pavement work at one end, but not whether that portion was yet open, so I decided to make my first landing on gravel.

4057 Stanley, ID

4057 Stanley, ID

Gravel has a lumpy bumpy surface like grass landing strips, without the cushion effect but with plenty of loose rocks to ding our beloved Tripp. Propellers in particular are vulnerable, so I took great care with all the precautions for operating aircraft on gravel and Tripp didn’t get a single nick. I met up with Anne, and we posed for this scenic shot taken by the pilot of another plane. If the jeep hadn’t been parked there, this would be one of my fav pix from the trip and perhaps my fav of Tripp. As it is, my eye invariably goes to the jeep and now I’ve probably ruined it for you too.

4064 Zen Imperfection

4064 Zen Imperfection

As with a Tibetan sand painting, that small flaw amid the grandeur is an important contribution. Shall I meditate on that, or photoshop it out for our holiday greeting card? 🙂

2011/09/05

Smiley Rerun

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,Smiley Adventure,Tripp — John @ 05:25

Today’s review of our zillion photos from this last trip has reached our arrival at Smiley Creek, ID. Yesterday we left off with rapids as we neared Bend, OR and though we of course have plenty of pix from there they are somewhat hazy due to a big fire near Boise. Instead I’ll start off with our entrance to the Sawtooth Mountains along a pass from the West toward Stanley, ID.

3871 West of Stanley

3871 West of Stanley

Normally a scene like this would be remarkable enough to merit lots of pix, and it does show one of the two or three large light-colored peaks we saw in the area. From a distance we thought they were much taller and covered with snow or glaciers. I even double-checked my route, because the aeronautical charts didn’t show any really tall mountains there. But in this same area were some stunning alpine lakes.

3880 Alpine Lakes

3880 Alpine Lakes

We saw innumerable pristine lakes like this, and many were clearly carved from solid rock by glaciers. Though the smoke diminished quite a bit as we flew East along the pass, by now on both sides were massive rows upon rows of jagged peaks extending into the hazy distance.

3884 Sawtooth Mountains

3884 Sawtooth Mountains

I was quite happy to follow roads through wide valleys, though many pilots explore deep into these vast mountain ranges. Many of the peaks are extremely jagged, as you can see in this snap of Anne’s.

0702 Jagged Peaks

0702 Jagged Peaks

After we turned South along the valley from Stanley to Smiley Creek enjoying breathtaking vast vistas that pics don’t show well due to haze and low sun angle, Anne snapped this as I lined up for my first grass strip landing.

0718 First Grass

0718 First Grass

Along with a nice view back up the valley, it shows how well-tended this strip is. Tripp loved landing on the grass, because it’s like a giant pillow. It makes landings very gentle and smooth, eliminating any trace of that “chirp” of tires meeting pavement as they scuff away expensive rubber getting up to speed, and the soft turf quickly slows the plane without using brakes. Such a delightful airport this is! Just a few steps across the highway is the store, restaurant & coffee shop, ice cream parlor, campsite, and the heated teepee we would enjoy that night.

2011/09/04

Flying Monkey Face

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,Smiley Adventure — John @ 04:57

The day we flew from Ashland to Smiley Creek was also beautiful, though there was haze from distant fires. The first really striking scene was Crater Lake, even with haze and scattered clouds. Some day maybe we’ll climb to the altitude required to fly over the top, but even so it was beautiful. Here’s a different angle from the one I posted a few weeks ago just after the flight.

3770 Crater Lake & Distant Peaks

3770 Crater Lake & Distant Peaks

There are some great peaks in the distance, and one of the nearer ones is especially craggy.

3788 Small Craggy Peak

3788 Small Craggy Peak

It’s not all that far (by plane) from Mt. Hood, which also has a craggy top probably related to the type of rock along with similar volcanic and glacial forces shaping it. Nearer are the Three Sisters and their extended family of smaller relations. I guess that’s Hood and maybe Adams in the distance.

3804 Sisters & Family

3804 Sisters & Family

A little further along in the Deschutes area the rapids were awash with kayaks, rafts, and a few boats like this one that’s probably resting up from a run. Hope that blue life ring wasn’t needed.

3825 Rapid Runners

3825 Rapid Runners

In case you’re wondering about the title of this post, it has to do with this last pic of today. For reasons I don’t understand, this apparently volcanic cone has a feature that reminds me of the faces on those scary flying monkeys from the old Wizard of Oz flick. So you see it, tilted to the right?

3810 Flying Monkey Face

3810 Flying Monkey Face

2011/09/02

First Summit

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,Smiley Adventure — John @ 09:07

This trip is the first time we’ve gone anywhere near Mount Shasta because usually there are clouds and/or dangerous winds there. When it was clear and winds were light as we approached it this time, we decided to delicately feel our way closer and higher to see if the winds were different at the top. It was almost flat calm by the time we cautiously circled the summit and got close enough for this pic.

3590 Shasta Summit

3590 Shasta Summit

It shows the zigzag trail up from the left, and my impression was that the highest point is the last rock outcrop at the right. Though it seems bleak in this pic, it was quite stunningly beautiful in context and somewhat breathtaking as we imagined this could also be the high point in our trip. It wasn’t, as you know if you’ve read all my posts about this Smiley Adventure. Still, this was another major contribution to what was an overwhelmingly magnificent day that began in San Jose and included Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Unbelievable.

Our next major attraction that day was the rock outcrop named Pilot Rock that I’ve called Cowboy Hat Rock because of how it looks from over I-5. Here on the other side up close it offers fascinating details and color variations.

3633 Cowboy Rock

3633 Cowboy Rock

The final major thrill on this flight was circling down over Ashland and seeing people filling up the open air theater for a performance.

3648 Downtown Ashland

3648 Downtown Ashland

It’s the horseshoe-shaped building, and the stage is that Tudor style “house” facing it. The angled row of buildings bottom-right is a quaint shopping and cafe area where we had coffee the next morning overlooking the river behind the buildings. Magical times!

2011/09/01

Lake to Peak

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,Smiley Adventure — John @ 08:30

Continuing my look back at our trip, still on the same day we flew from San Jose to Watsonville and up the coast across SF Bay, more remarkable scenes to share. We stopped briefly at Clear Lake, and taking off the shore was artwork to me. Tall grass laid down by wind and other influences, and many shades of green mingled into a collage of lake life.

3395 Lakeshore Life

3395 Lakeshore Life

Flying up the valley along Hwy.101 there was artwork on this slope amid a vast forest. The lines and colors complement each other in some ways I find appealing.

3433 Agro Mosaic

3433 Agro Mosaic

I guess at least some of this is vineyards, but maybe it’s one of those epic artworks like when they draped vast swaths of hills in fabric. Tomorrow we might complete the review of this one enchanted day, but for now I’ll end with our approach to the symmetry of Shasta offset by the jagged foreground ridge.

3482 Shasta Return

3482 Shasta Return

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