Page, AZ then Grand Canyon

[wiguy]

Here we are in Raton, NM, for the overnight. I asked the guy at the airport where about is that NRA ranch, Whittington Center? He said it’s only just over two miles away, you can stay there if you want. It was an added treat to stay here, lots of mule deer hanging around, plenty of gun ranges. Nice place at a lower cost than most hotel rooms.

Tomorrow off towards Ship Rock, Monument Valley then Page/Lake Powel. The 15 y/o Son & I are on the trip. The main area is the G.C, and the parks nearby. We may visit some friends in St George for a few hours. Much of everything with be just a fly-by. My flying partner usually has a lower interest in light aircraft flying, but he’s perking up some as we get to more interesting scenery. The water was still high back in NE.

I’ll try a picture.

 

[Charlie]

Joe, I'm certain you two will enjoy the 4-corners scenery. Glad you made it out this way from WI. Gouldings at Monument Valley is a fun stop for lunch, if you've got time. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Commander91gm]

Monument Valley is really a treat and since it is on the reservation the 500 ' rule does not apply. Fly low around some of the spires (just watch for others doing the same).
Land at Gouldings for lunch (one way dirt strip)- check out the John Wayne stuff!

 

[Charlie]

Land at Gouldings for lunch (one way dirt strip)- check out the John Wayne stuff!

Gouldings isn't dirt anymore - decent asphalt. Parking area is gravel, though so be careful. The one-way in is quite the view!

 

[atjudge]

There are whole procedures for flying the Grand Canyon. You can flight plan and stay in the corridors all the way from Las Vegas to Page. Once at Page spend the night. Next day Take off out of Page and fly 500 feet up River until you get to Hite Marina, which is the Northern most part of the lake and Quite Dry this time of year while the lake is so low. Climb to avoid terrain and head over to Gouldings. Its not a very long flight from Hite Marina to Gouldings . My favorite at Gouldings is the Fry bread and Stew.

 

[Commander91gm]

Gouldings isn't dirt anymore - decent asphalt. Parking area is gravel, though so be careful. The one-way in is quite the view!

there was an asphalt section at the top of the strip - they paved the whole thing ?

 

[Charlie]

There was an asphalt section at the top of the strip - they paved the whole thing ?

Yep. 3,800 x 45 feet. The parking area is gravel, though. I made the mistake of taxing over that with power going up hill & got a nasty (but repairable) prop nick when I was there last August. Also, wrong time of the year to be there - 102 degrees when I left & the airport is at 5,208.

 

[wiguy]

Today was busy. Started with the museum & gift shop at the Whittington Center. Since the low clouds had to burn off, ate at Denny’s. Once launch we started the pictures at Ship Rock, then the ‘4-Corners’ site(from the air). After that Monument Valley, Lake Powell, then the ‘Zuni Corridor’ over the G.C.

My Son wanted to checkout the park so we landed for the night at GCN. It was nice that the stronger winds were down the runway, 1st turnoff, no problem. Tomorrow we will do the short flight to St George, UT, spend a night or maybe two. Not worried about getting home yet, a few more days of exploring ahead.

 

[wiguy]

We were lucky to get one of the last rooms in town, most everything full. Lots of people on spring break getaways. It is kinda a pain to get up to 10.5k or so. I’ll be glad to get back to a standard day at 700’ MSL.

 

[Charlie]

It is kinda a pain to get up to 10.5k or so. I’ll be glad to get back to a standard day at 700’ MSL.

Welcome to the Colorado Plateau, a great part of the West. For me, getting up to 10.5 from home base is a gain of just under 5,000 feet. The Hot Shot makes for an easy climb. Sounds like you are having a great adventure! Don't forget to post some pics. Overflying the Grand Canyon is still on my "flights to do" list.

 

[gmores]

great pictures - thanks for sharing

 

[Commander91gm]

Welcome to the Colorado Plateau, a great part of the West. For me, getting up to 10.5 from home base is a gain of just under 5,000 feet. The Hot Shot makes for an easy climb. Sounds like you are having a great adventure! Don't forget to post some pics. Overflying the Grand Canyon is still on my "flights to do" list.

https://youtu.be/JM1aZP_BHqs

 

[wiguy]

Flew over to St George, UT today, great weather. Since things are on the fly, I found out no rental cars were available. Our friends from back in WI are here visiting family. They let us use their BMW for the day, didn’t even take much of a hint. Yes, I’ll reciprocate.

We spent the afternoon in Zion Park, did a few highlights. Tomorrow we may stop at KBCE just to check it out, then go to Moab for the overnight. Here are a few pictures from Zion Park.

 

[wiguy]

We stayed in St George a bit extra. The ignition switch has been acting up, thought I could make it to the June annual, not to be. Jim at Aerodyme helped reference the correct replacement. I overnighted it from Spruce, seems to be corrected. The mechanic put it in. We added the Mormon Temple with the extra time, finished in 1877.

We tracked down a vehicle and went to the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. My son wanted to go for a ‘full-auto’ shoot. He researched ‘Battlefield Vegas’, only .9 from the hotel. I just shot an MP-5, he was more exotic with the full auto VZ-58, and some other gun. It wasn’t to much $$, though over soon. It was close to a highlight on the trip for him. We walked the length of the ‘strip’ too.

We made it to Hereford, TX today, late start. It was a bit bumpy with that 30+kt tailwind over the terrain, but manageable at reduced speed. My original plan was Dalhart, TX. While we had the tailwind at 9.5/7.5, surface winds were opposite at 25+, sorta down a rwy option. Twenty miles out the ride was untenable, near the shear boundary. I slowly eased back SW, then tried again slightly south at a lower altitude. It was the same. After three attempts I looked SW & ended up at Hereford.

Anyway, nice airport, vehicle for the night, no hurry to leave tomorrow. As a backup, Sunday weather is trending very good, school Monday.

 

[JimParker256]

Thanks for posting about this trip. I'm enjoying reading it, and making a few notes along the way...

 

[wiguy]

We made it back to WI last eve. We arc’ed North from NW TX then towards WI, fair amount of headwind no matter how one planned it. The potential fuel stop(s) had to be some version of a N/S runway to deal with the 30+/-kt surface winds. My Garmin Pilot app has the fuel prices, of course that’s in the mix also. We stopped in Iowa then home, weather better and winds lighter as we progressed.

I mostly just minded my business flying, listened up to a few CTAFs, ATIS, AWOS freqs. I did talk to Cedar Rapids App on the way by, just about no one else on the freq. Even though it’s a Saturday, no reason to play with 30kts of gusty winds. We saw the major flooding on the MO River again, some totally surrounded by water.

Here’s a picture of Horseshoe Bend, near Page, AZ.

 

[Charlie]

Joe, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you truly had an "adventure!", good weather, challenging weather, mechanical issues & good times with your son & family in there. No question in my mind you and your son will have some great memories. To me, that's very important.

Joel - thanks for sharing the video. Makes me want to get the GC flyover checked off my "to do" list evermore.

 

[wiguy]

Yes, my G.C. overflight was a total non-issue. The only other traffic on the freq was the tour flyers, well below the casual G.A. flyer at 10.5 or 11.5k. They seemed to be down at 8.5+/- some for direction through the corridor. Back at the GCN airport there was just a bit of traffic, the helo operators have their own in & out course rules, away from the standard pattern.

If touring the G.C. from the ground, no need for a rental car. The town with rooms is about 1 mile away, a free ride is fairly easy to find. For departure we walked back. There is a free shuttle to the park, $20 ‘family’ entrance fee. If the rim trail isn’t enough, another shuttle will bring you further down the rim trail system. The day after we left the news had two fatalities in the park, one over the side, the other a possible medical issue.