I woke up this morning at 5:30 with my back killing me. I also had serious trepidation about today's flight. The mountains near Salt Lake City scare the crap out of me. I had a giant knot in my stomach as I morosely spooned down my cup of oatmeal.
To really add to my anxiety there was an Airmet for low altitude turbulence and wind shear. This was the absolute last thing I wanted to hear for today's flight.
I would be flying into a narrow mountain pass known for tubulence on a calm day. Now this would be exascerbated by a large, unstable, air mass.
It took me a few minutes to realize I needed a new plan. It would be stupid to try the entire route today. I decided I would fly from Rawlins to Southwest Regional (RKS) and refuel. I would then proceed either to Fort Bridger or Evanson, depending on the flying conditions.
The flight to Rock City (Southwest Regional) was smooth and beautiful with only an occasional bump. I listened to my Jack Reacher novel and enjoyed the amazing scenery.
Somewhere west of Rawlins
Hundreds of miles of complete emptiness
The Cherokee VOR in the center of the pic (white dot)
As I approached Rock Springs the bumps began. They were uncomfortable but manageable. I landed on the 5200 foot runway and pulled up to the FBO to refuel. As I climbed out I noticed a Cirrus Vision jet on the ramp, the first one I had ever seen. This amazing plane has a top speed of 345 mph!
The mother of all personal aircraft!
After a quick refuel I fired up the engine and dialed the ASOS on the radio. It was reporting a density altitude of 8400 feet. To date the highest density altitude I had taken off in was 7400 feet. I honestly had no idea if my plane would even get off the ground in these conditions.
As I rolled out on the runway I had a plan. If I wasn't at takeoff speed by 1/3rd of this runway I would abort the takeoff and spend the night in Rock City. As it turned out 972GL was off the ground long before 1/3 of the runway and I was climbing out at 500 fpm! Frankly I was quite surprised by this. I thought I would get off the ground but a 500 FPM climb rate, nearly fully loaded, was beyond my best expectation.
It didn't take long for the turbulence to start bouncing my little plane around. At this point Evanson was only an hour and twenty-two minutes and I knew I could deal with that. Along the way I passed over Green River.
Part of Green River
I bounced along, listening to my book on tape and just hoping the turbulence wouldn't get any worse before I got to Evanson. As it turned out it didn't and I made a decent landing into some pretty gusty winds at EVW.
The FBO had a truck I could use for the night so I loaded up my backpacks and seat cushion and headed out. It was too early to check into the hotel so I headed for Bear River State Park.
The park has various hiking trails some of which meander along the Bear River. I grabbed a bottle of water and followed a wide trail. I found a quiet place and sat down and simply enjoyed a moment of no stress and no pressure.
After a few minutes I got bored and decided a decent hike might be good for my back. A short distance further on a very narrow trail veered off from the main trail and I chose to take it. I was clearly alone and never saw another person.
The small trail hugged the river bank and it soon became obvious this was beaver country. Aspens of all sizes had been chewed down by these amazing creatures. The telltale pointed spikes of the tree stumps were clear signs of beavers. Then I started noticing all of the beaver lodges and dams. Every 50 yards or so there was either a lodge or a dam.
A chewed off stump in the foreground and you can just see a lodge in the background
The downstream side of a large beaver dam
And right about here I started noticing the bones.
They were sun-bleached and they were everywhere. Hmmm... I didn't think too much of it until I came across what can only be described as a recent kill. It was a deer and there was not much left of it. It was disturbing.
The realization came to me that I was just not in rattle snake country (the entire state of Wyoming) but I was also 1-1/2 miles out on a tiny trail in a mountain lion hunting ground.
I no longer felt comfortable and managed to get a switchback up to the main trail. This may actually have been worse. The main trail ran along the base of various rock faces. I swear to god I could just feel the eyes of a hungry mountain lion sitting up there trying to decide if I had enough meat on my bones to make the effort.
I just knew that somewhere up there a lion was thinkin about lunch...
I kept my head on a swivel for the hike out. Alternately looking down for rattlers and scanning the rock faces for any kind of movement. Apparently the lion decided to wait for fatter prey. I felt quite relieved to get back to the parking lot.
On the way out I noticed the small heard of bison, including some calves. They are impressive creatures!
The heard here is used to replenish the bison in Yellowstone National Park
Tomorrow I am getting up at 5:30 so I can take off at 6:30 and put this drama of the Rocky Mountains behind. By flying early I should avoid the high winds and turbulence that builds up later in the day.
