Winning Weekend

The only thing that could have made this past weekend any better was if I’d won the lottery too!

Saturday I started out walking and just kept going, uphill and down and up again achieving a whole new record, seven miles!

Sunday I took two Grey Eagles up. Meet Jean and Gordon. (That's me in the middle. Nick, the Airport dog saying hello)
Jean had not flown in a small plane before, but knew she would like it – and she did. Gordon had quite a bit of experience in GA planes including flights while he worked oil and mining around the country, but it had been awhile and he was thrilled to see his local area from the air.

We left Chehalis Airport (CLS) departing runway 16. Followed I-5 south to fly a circle over Gordon’s home, then turned SE for a look at Mt St Helens. There was a cloud layer just above the foothills, so I flew up a valley between two ridges and into open air over Johnston Ridge which lies directly north of Helens and took the brunt of her eruption. This is where the visitor observation and interpretative center sits and we noted that roads to it were buried in snow. The mountain itself showed in tantalizing glimpses as we flew across her face. I would have loved to get a picture of the caldera through a cloud window, but there was just enough turbulence to make photo taking an unwise choice.

Both passengers had many questions about planes and piloting and places I’d flown to. They were especially impressed with the freedom that GA pilots enjoy. Gordon liked the idea of “no speed limit”. He regaled us with tales of other flights and sights seen as we turned east and descended out of the hills into the valley leading to White Pass. Over the small town of Randle, we turned back west and overflew Rife and Mayfield Lakes on our way back home. Seniors are my favorite passengers; it was rewarding to get to know them and share a lovely hour of sightseeing.

Mayfield Looking East