Five weeks of adventure with my Super 170

[170dreams]

Moose Creek is one of my favorite spots to camp.

Joe,

Yeah, Moose Creek was a nice first stop in Idaho!

Still running 145 hp (0-300D) but have a Sportsman STOL and 8043 climb prop. Been in most of strips back here except for a few. Really enjoyed watching your adventures!

That's what I had on my bird before the upgrade, great combo!


Thanks for your comment.

Wolf

[170dreams]

Hellooo,

anybody else out there?

Since there's almost no feedback to my trip report I'm wondering if it makes sense to keep posting.

Let me know!

Wolf

[RobfromME]

Oh yes!!!

Please do keep posting! I'm enjoying it immensely and the photos are beautiful!! I hope to do the same soon!

All my best,
Rob

[johneeb]

Wolf, please keep posting, the silent majority is watching.
Johneb

[Joe Moilanen]

Yes!! Don't stop!!
Sometimes I think we need a "like" button like Facebook, I'm sure that your adventure would have lots of them!

I've been looking forward to log in daily to read your posts

Joe
4518C

[c170b53]

Didn’t want to disturb the flow Wolf with a comment. I’ve got a few pics of Montana from altitude but they never do it justice. Have always looked forward and enjoyed that portion of my trips. I often deviated from my route to take in another valley / ridge hoping to see wildlife or to just for the view. Best memory was watching a storm cell traverse the middle of a fishbowl alpine valley whilst we skirted around it in clear conditions, just raw mountain beauty. Thank you for reminding me of those trips through your story. Its the best part of flying, the memories that you can take you flying, over and over again.

[sfarringer]

Yes, very much enjoying your trip report!
Brings back memories of trips I have taken too!

[170dreams]

Thanks for your encouragement, I just didn't know if "the silent majority is watching"...

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Appreciate you sharing with us. Can't imagine a trip such as yours or owning a plane of the same caliber to do it in.

[170dreams]

Idaho, Idaho… you have to go to Idaho!

That recommendation came up wherever I asked for places I should visit on my adventure trip across the country.
And the multitude of photos of those famous strips on the internet sure looked tempting.

But when I watched videos of the approaches and landings at some of them, my enthusiasm was dampened.
It looked as if you needed experience and piloting skills that I didn't (yet) have.
There was no way I was going to risk ending up in the trees on a misjudged approach or go-around, or bending the gear on a botched landing.

For this reason, I chose Moose Creek and Johnson Creek as my first destinations.
Since both are in canyons and therefore require a much tighter approach than the places I had visited in Montana, I would still be climbing up the learning curve.
But with a super powerful O-360 climbing shouldn’t be a problem, right….LOL

Since I didn't arrive in Idaho until mid-September, the peak season was already over.
Wherever I landed, Whiskyblue was the only airplane in the pattern, which gave me the luxury of flying approach and landing without having to take other traffic into consideration.

This was especially evident when I got to Johnson Creek; I had never seen a photo of this place without a single airplane parked.

A pretty unique photo opportunity, I suppose...

[GAHorn]

Thanks for your encouragement, I just didn't know if "the silent majority is watching"...

KEEP POSTING!! We’re just all “MESMERIZED” into mouths-AGAPE jealousy!
<edit> I posted this comment earlier…but accidentally hit the OP’s “edit” function, instead of the “quote” function. corrected

[Joe Moilanen]

When I made my annual trip to Johnson Creek last year I discovered that the new caretaker is one of our long standing 170 members! You'll feel right at home!

Joe
4518C

[170dreams]

It wasn't loneliness but a less than promising weather forecast that drove me out of Johnson Creek.
Three days with low clouds, a high probability of precipitation and the snow level dropping down to 6000 ft ?
No, thank you!

Out of Johnson Creek


I went to Cascade to refuel and spent some time at the FBO modifying my plans.
While I was mapping out possible routes in foreflight, a gentleman looked over my shoulder and started giving me recommendations.
He obviously knew the area very well.
Finally, he suggested we go out for lunch together. We went to his favorite restaurant where he told me story after story about his flying in Idaho.
I had met Idaho flying legend Ray Arnold!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhhb43Cpnko

Of course I had to check out some places he mentioned and chose Garden Valley and Warm Springs.

Garden Valley (U88)

Warm Springs (0U1)

[170dreams]

Landing on gravel bars is not my thing.
Not that Whiskyblue couldn’t handle it, all she needs are perhaps bigger tires and she’d master everything even a very experienced pilot could challenge her with.
On my trip I just wasn’t into bagging landings in difficult spots.
Of course, all the upgrades and bush mods on my bird take its performance for backcountry flying to a new level and open up access to very challenging strips, but for me they are primarily safety enhancing add-ons.

Case in point: my landings “the wrong way” In Garden Valley and Warm Springs.

The Idaho-Airports app recommends landing rwy 10 in U88 and rwy 02 in 0U1.

In both locations the windsock pointed straight downwind when I got there.

(a Kodiak on) Approach on rwy 28 into Garden Valley

Looking towards approach end of rwy 20 Warm Springs


From above, I looked at the approach paths to land into the wind. Short doglegs on base and final - doable, I decided.

With the Sportsman cuff with VG’s I had excellent maneuverability at 52mph, which is about 1.5 vso, and approach and landing turned out perfectly.

Then there was an added safety bonus; if I had had to abort for any reason, the go-around would have been in the recommended direction for takeoff.

When I reviewed my decisions later at the campfires I felt good about them.

I also realized that my experience with gliders in the mountains played a role: I felt comfortable flying close to the terrain and was confident in my ability to correctly assess the local wind conditions.

[170dreams]

One of the challenges I faced before and during my trip was finding a balance between making plans and sticking to them, and leaving room for spontaneous decisions.
The “make it to Montana as quickly as possible”- part was a no-brainer. But deciding how much time to allow for Montana, Idaho, Utah - not to mention the option to continue even further West - was difficult, especially since this was my first journey out west.
Sofar I had visited 4 places in MT and was now at my fourth strip in ID.

“Have you been to …?, you should definitely go to … !” were some of the answers I received from my pilot friends after I updated them on my whereabouts.

Now, there are enough backcountry destinations in Idaho alone to keep me busy all summer, but we were already in the last week of September.

I looked at the map, the calendar and the weather forecast - maybe one more place in Idaho?
I rememberd the invitation by the 170 pilot at Moose Creek to come up to Cavanaugh Bay…

In the end decided to move on.
Utah, Colorado and friends to the south were already waiting.

“…promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.” came to mind.

Leaving the Idaho mountains

Logistics stopover in Gooding, ID

First signs of fall in northeastern Utah

Huntington, UT, beginning of my Utah adventures