P
Plemmons
Weather permitting, during the end of May I plan to fly my PA-12 to Seattle from the St. Louis. What is the best route to cross the mountains? And should I plan to fly high or low?
Jerry Burr
MEMBER
Sedro Woolley, Washington.
Travel.
I always use I-90 also. The only other thing I would add is going east fly as high as you can. Traveling west stay as low as you can, at least below the mountain tops. Works for me.
Jerry.
I always use I-90 also. The only other thing I would add is going east fly as high as you can. Traveling west stay as low as you can, at least below the mountain tops. Works for me.
Jerry.
Steve Pierce
BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
I brought a 108hp. PA-16 back from Vancouver, WA last year at this time. Flew the "Gorge" from Vancouver to Pendleton, OR. Interstate 84 goes from Pendleton on to Caldwell, ID. Followed I84 into Burley, ID and spent the night. The next morning followed I84 up to Pocatello, ID, across Soda Springs, ID following Hwy30 down to Montpelier and across to Rock Springs, WY and down to Greely, CO where we had to spend the night due to thunderstorms and then on to TX the next morning. Rock Springs was 6760' and the highest airport we landed at. Climbed higher out of there because of the turbulence at lower elevations. That area East of Rock Springs looked like the moon. Everything West of there was awesome.
S
StewartB
I've not done it, but if I was you, I'd fly the route Lewis and Clark took, just for kicks. Why not enjoy some history along the way? It always amazes me how tough people used to be.
SB
SB
Randy
FOUNDER
S.Dakota
Crossing the rockies
Anybody ever fly the old airmail route to the west coast?
It always has been a dream of mine to retrace the paths of those that have gone before us....the Transcontinental airmail route.....Lewis and Clark trail, ect.....Seems like a great adventure.
My Uncle ferried a C-2 Aeronca to Los Angeles from the midwest in 1936.
Took about a week and quite a few tries to cross the rockies...always had a headwind...and the Airnocker couldn't overcome it.
Randy
Anybody ever fly the old airmail route to the west coast?
It always has been a dream of mine to retrace the paths of those that have gone before us....the Transcontinental airmail route.....Lewis and Clark trail, ect.....Seems like a great adventure.
My Uncle ferried a C-2 Aeronca to Los Angeles from the midwest in 1936.
Took about a week and quite a few tries to cross the rockies...always had a headwind...and the Airnocker couldn't overcome it.
Randy
Speedo
FOUNDER
TN
I've used two routes: one through Pendleton, OR and Logan, UT, the other over I-90. Both work well.
On the first route, I was traveling from Everett, WA to North Carolina. There were loads of thunderstorms in MT over the mtns and on the east side of the mtns, which made the I-90 route a bad choice. So I flew from Everett south to the Columbia River, then to Pendleton, OR, then to Logan, UT (day 1). On Day 2, crossing the Wasatch Range I had the option of climbing over the mtns at Logan (which I did, going up to 10,000' to get a big bunch of terrain clearance), or following I-80 from SLC to Evanston, WY. Once across the Wasatch there were no more mountains to cross, and I had great views of a number of mountain ranges in Colorado to the south. The visibility was tremendous, the surface winds were pretty strong (often 20-25 kts), and there were fun things to see along the way, like a beautiful Stearman flying westbound between Rawlings and Evanston, and the 737 doing touch and goes in the pattern at Cheyenne. Once east of Cheyenne the humidity went up, and the visibility went down, but there were still plenty of good people to meet and interesting things to see.
I did the I-90 route last summer, and it was a snap. Again I was traveling West to East. Crossing the Cascades on the Bellingham to Spokane leg I used Stevens Pass (you can also use Snoqualamie Pass if you are approaching from a more southerly direction). On the Spokane - Helena leg I was flying below the mountain tops, in the early morning, and it was smooth sailing the whole way. However, visibility was rather poor due to the multitudes of forest fires. There were a couple of places approaching the east side of the mountains where I had to deviate away from the interstate due to TFRs for the firebombers. Once east of the mountains it was easy flying, although not particularly scenic and there were plenty of thunderstorms to avoid. The good thing is that visibility was wonderful, and it was easy to see the thunderstorms from far off. I was amazed by the size of the ranches - those homes are really far apart - and decided ranch life would be well suited to introverts. My route took me through Helena, MT (where the Red Hot Skillet Lickers were playing) and over the Custer Battlefield (very interesting to see from the air, and definitely worth adding to your itinerary if time permits). South Dakota was hot as the devil, and a "cold" MOA I was transiting went "hot" when an F-16 had a mechanical problem and needed an unplanned inflight refueling. St. Louis approach control was decidedly unhelpful and refused to give me flight following, despite the plethora of thunderstorms and commercial traffic I was working my way through on the east side of the city.
Have a great time. Whichever route you chose, you're sure to meet some great people and see some unexpected things.
Eric
On the first route, I was traveling from Everett, WA to North Carolina. There were loads of thunderstorms in MT over the mtns and on the east side of the mtns, which made the I-90 route a bad choice. So I flew from Everett south to the Columbia River, then to Pendleton, OR, then to Logan, UT (day 1). On Day 2, crossing the Wasatch Range I had the option of climbing over the mtns at Logan (which I did, going up to 10,000' to get a big bunch of terrain clearance), or following I-80 from SLC to Evanston, WY. Once across the Wasatch there were no more mountains to cross, and I had great views of a number of mountain ranges in Colorado to the south. The visibility was tremendous, the surface winds were pretty strong (often 20-25 kts), and there were fun things to see along the way, like a beautiful Stearman flying westbound between Rawlings and Evanston, and the 737 doing touch and goes in the pattern at Cheyenne. Once east of Cheyenne the humidity went up, and the visibility went down, but there were still plenty of good people to meet and interesting things to see.
I did the I-90 route last summer, and it was a snap. Again I was traveling West to East. Crossing the Cascades on the Bellingham to Spokane leg I used Stevens Pass (you can also use Snoqualamie Pass if you are approaching from a more southerly direction). On the Spokane - Helena leg I was flying below the mountain tops, in the early morning, and it was smooth sailing the whole way. However, visibility was rather poor due to the multitudes of forest fires. There were a couple of places approaching the east side of the mountains where I had to deviate away from the interstate due to TFRs for the firebombers. Once east of the mountains it was easy flying, although not particularly scenic and there were plenty of thunderstorms to avoid. The good thing is that visibility was wonderful, and it was easy to see the thunderstorms from far off. I was amazed by the size of the ranches - those homes are really far apart - and decided ranch life would be well suited to introverts. My route took me through Helena, MT (where the Red Hot Skillet Lickers were playing) and over the Custer Battlefield (very interesting to see from the air, and definitely worth adding to your itinerary if time permits). South Dakota was hot as the devil, and a "cold" MOA I was transiting went "hot" when an F-16 had a mechanical problem and needed an unplanned inflight refueling. St. Louis approach control was decidedly unhelpful and refused to give me flight following, despite the plethora of thunderstorms and commercial traffic I was working my way through on the east side of the city.
Have a great time. Whichever route you chose, you're sure to meet some great people and see some unexpected things.
Eric
sj
Staff member
Northwest Arkansas
Nice story!
I'm trying to figure a way using something like www.aeroplanner.com we could share these routes more specifically. That would be cool.
sj
I'm trying to figure a way using something like www.aeroplanner.com we could share these routes more specifically. That would be cool.
sj
flagold
Registered User
Abbeville, Alabama
If weather, etc. get's you anywhere near American or Idaho Falls, head for Bear Lake, then Ft. Bridger (at I-80), then the route suggested through Rawlings and Cheyanne to get out of the range. If south, take the SLC to Rawlings to Cheyanne route to get clear. The Idaho to Ft. Bridger route puts you in a big cut heading SE with excellent terrain clearance, but the Tetons will be off on your left, the Rockies ahead, and the mountains SLC is backed up to on your right, all above you. It's a spectacular flight. MM
Jerry Gaston
Registered User
Bozeman, Montana
Crossing the Rockies
If you want a beautiful trip across the Rockies fly to Hamilton,Montana fuel up cross the Bitterroot Mt and fly down either the Lochsa river or the Selway River.
If you want a beautiful trip across the Rockies fly to Hamilton,Montana fuel up cross the Bitterroot Mt and fly down either the Lochsa river or the Selway River.
murph
Registered User
Rotan, TX.
This discussion is very relevent to me since I'm planning a trip from TX to WA soon.
Next question is how to maximize the fun factor. Where to stop and camp along the mountain route. Time is not a great big factor, so we want to have some fun camping, fishing and sight-seeing. Small scenic back-country strips without restrictions would suit us just fine. But we'd settle for a couple of small airports that allow camping about 8 or 9 hours apart. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
murph
Next question is how to maximize the fun factor. Where to stop and camp along the mountain route. Time is not a great big factor, so we want to have some fun camping, fishing and sight-seeing. Small scenic back-country strips without restrictions would suit us just fine. But we'd settle for a couple of small airports that allow camping about 8 or 9 hours apart. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
murph
djfraudman
Registered User
Meadow Lakes, AK
Murph, Here are some websites that are interesting to look at when considering traveling in that direction.
http://www.utahbackcountrypilots.org/
http://www.montanapilots.org/backcountry/index.html
http://www.airphotona.com/stock/search.asp (search using the term backcountry) The other photos are also great and most taken from a Husky I believe.
http://www.flyidaho.org/www/default.html
http://www.utahbackcountrypilots.org/
http://www.montanapilots.org/backcountry/index.html
http://www.airphotona.com/stock/search.asp (search using the term backcountry) The other photos are also great and most taken from a Husky I believe.
http://www.flyidaho.org/www/default.html
CubCouper
Registered User
Sheridan WY
Last summer I ventured up north and west from Denver... a long diagonal up through Wyoming (stop in at Greybull to see the western fleet of smoke bombers), then skirted all around the E, N, and W sides of Yellowstone to camp at West Yellowstone airport. Headed straight west from there to visit the miriad of Idaho backcountry strips. Coming home, I stayed just south of the Tetons, overnighted at Big Piney, WY.
Once you're north of the Colorado border (Tetons withstanding), the height of the mountains isn't as much of an issue as the daily weather conditions. Some airports seem to be in a natural venturi and always have rotten conditions, others seem to be in natural weather breaks. Just plan to fly early in the day, and have the fuel and stamina to get to the natural harbors. I've used Butte, and Hailey (Sun Valley), ID to escape conditions that were decidely less pleasant 15 miles away.
Once you're north of the Colorado border (Tetons withstanding), the height of the mountains isn't as much of an issue as the daily weather conditions. Some airports seem to be in a natural venturi and always have rotten conditions, others seem to be in natural weather breaks. Just plan to fly early in the day, and have the fuel and stamina to get to the natural harbors. I've used Butte, and Hailey (Sun Valley), ID to escape conditions that were decidely less pleasant 15 miles away.
Speedo
FOUNDER
TN
I have to echo CubCouper's comments on surface conditions and best time of day for flying. In Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and Idaho I found that conditions were wonderful (i.e., little or no surface wind and outstanding visibilities) until about 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. (this was in July). From that time through the rest of the day surface winds and turbulence were more of a factor.
I didn't experience any really intimidating wind conditions (although I'm sure they're not uncommon), and I had to be dilligent about using proper landing and taxiing techniques. After a long day's flying I made a point to carefully plan each landing (will it be a wheel or 3-pointer, if it's to be a wheel landing will I touch down on one or both wheels, where, exactly do I plan to touch down, precisely what airspeeds do I want to use, can I land across the runway and roll right onto the taxiway (to land more directly into the wind), are there any ditches, lights, or signs that I would encounter if I were to groundloop, etc). After landing I was especially dilligent about properly positioning the stick while taxiing, and I was mindful of the wind when securing the flight controls and tieing down the plane. I suspect I haven't mentioned anything that's not common knowledge or common practice for everyone on this site.
I didn't experience any really intimidating wind conditions (although I'm sure they're not uncommon), and I had to be dilligent about using proper landing and taxiing techniques. After a long day's flying I made a point to carefully plan each landing (will it be a wheel or 3-pointer, if it's to be a wheel landing will I touch down on one or both wheels, where, exactly do I plan to touch down, precisely what airspeeds do I want to use, can I land across the runway and roll right onto the taxiway (to land more directly into the wind), are there any ditches, lights, or signs that I would encounter if I were to groundloop, etc). After landing I was especially dilligent about properly positioning the stick while taxiing, and I was mindful of the wind when securing the flight controls and tieing down the plane. I suspect I haven't mentioned anything that's not common knowledge or common practice for everyone on this site.
Anne
Registered User
SE Michigan
For those of you who are lucky enough to be flying around the western US, there are a couple of books you'd be interested in. They are both available through OCTA - the Oregon-California Trail Association. I don't remember their website address, but I found it just by using OCTA in the search mode.
One book is about flying the Santa Fe trail, and the other is for the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. Both show GPS coordinates, pictures of wagon wheel ruts (still very visible after all this time), and airspace and airport comments. Someday, I plan to fly at least one of these trails. The guy who wrote these two is planning another flight this summer to map out the Lewis & Clark trail. Sorry I don't have his name, but I loaned both books out, and haven't gotten them back yet.
Anne.
One book is about flying the Santa Fe trail, and the other is for the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. Both show GPS coordinates, pictures of wagon wheel ruts (still very visible after all this time), and airspace and airport comments. Someday, I plan to fly at least one of these trails. The guy who wrote these two is planning another flight this summer to map out the Lewis & Clark trail. Sorry I don't have his name, but I loaned both books out, and haven't gotten them back yet.
Anne.
P
Plemmons
LUG
Yes, thank you. Had a change of plans and flew West to East from Great Falls to Hot Springs, SD., Norfolk, NE., and on to Hannibal, Mo.
Yes, thank you. Had a change of plans and flew West to East from Great Falls to Hot Springs, SD., Norfolk, NE., and on to Hannibal, Mo.
