Richfield Utah Fly-In

28 Sep - 4 Oct 2013        
                                     (Click on photos to enlarge, then ESC to return to blog)

Panorama of Cove Takeoff

C.J. had been in contact with Stacy Whitmore, the organizer of this event, for her article on fall fly-ins. His emails made Richfield sound like the place to be in late September. In addition, Todd Weigand was sponsoring a Mt. Howard fly-in in the Wallowas starting on the 26th and we could hit that on our way to Utah. Unfortunately, just as were were getting geared up to leave, Todd told us that a sudden storm had hit the area and there was three feet of snow on launch, and it was going to be windy. Okay - change of plans: I've wanted to go down through the area around Owyhee Lake on the border of Idaho and Oregon, and if we did that, we could hit Great Basin National Park and do a little scenic hiking. It looked like two days (about 14 hours) to Great Basin so I looked for a place to camp midway. Succor Creek State Park just south of Ontario OR looked like it was in the right place and there was no fee for camping. The road might not be a highway, but at least it was paved. After Great Basin it was only a few hours to Richfield where we could stay in a KOA RV park the first night, then find out where everyone else was camping. We had a plan!

28 Sep, Sat - It was raining in North Bend when we hooked up the trailier and pulled out shortly after 0900. As soon as we got on I-90 I noticed that we were getting only 18.8 mpg and it was going down rapidly as we started our climb up Snoqualmie Pass. I stopped at Exit 36 to see if there was anything obviously wrong with the trailer or car; nothing looked out of the ordinary. Gas mileage dropped to 14 mpg as we topped the pass but improved somewhat on the downgrade. Still, it was showing only 20 mpg when we got gas at Costco in Union Gap (349.9). It must have been the same batch of gas at UG because gas mileage did not improve until we put in four gal. of Shell at Baker City (385.9); that increased the mileage to a much better 23.1. Since we were heading into the desert, we filled up in Ontario at Pilot (369.9) and again had normal

Camped in Succor Creek Canyon

mileage - at least until we hit the unexpected gravel road leading to Succor Creek. [Up to then we had been driving through farmland around Nyssa that obviously was producing lots of onions.] The road wasn't too bad but our speed had been cut back to under 30 mph. We wound down into a canyon that got really narrow with steep cliffs to either side. As it was getting late and we hadn't seen any official campground, we used a pullout for a campsite; no problem with traffic noise since there were hardly any other vehicles. Since the wind had been strong all day we parked facing south into the wind and tied the roof down securely. A short walk around the area showed that we had parked near where a restroom must have stood - the foundations were still obvious. As it got dark the wind did not die down but there was a good dark sky for viewing stars.

29 Sep, Sun - Wow! Unexpectedly strong winds, gusting to 50 mph (?) overnight. We were awakened several times as the trail rocked and rattled. The roofs and A-walls stayed firmly in place so I guess our roof tiedown and the painter pole inside must be effective. We got up at 0750 and packed up during a lull which included a little rain. Out by 0850 with a cold cereal breakfast. The rest of the road to the south out past the small campground (occupied by several tents and trailers, most likely belonging to hunters, with an outhouse and room for more units) was unpaved with some washboard so it was pretty slow, but there were good views from the switchbacks as we climbed out of the canyon. We passed the Leslie Gulch Rd which goes to the southern part of L. Owyhee (possible kayak trip) and it looked pretty decent for an unpaved road. Shortly after that we turned south on US 95 and it was a long drive through SE Oregon and NE Nevada to Winnemucca where we stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box and got gas at Flying J (359.9). We had been getting terrible gas mileage (in the17's) again even after getting off the Succor Creek Road because of the strong headwind. Heading downwind on I-80 from Winnemucca we got more normal mileage. We turned south at Battle Mountain on Rte 305 which was marked as "scenic" but wasn't very interesting until the last ten miles. As we descended to Rte 50 near Austin the views improved. Austin looked sort of interesting and so did Eureka (near a big copper mine with piles of spoil like those just west of Ely). At the top of one of the high (7000 ft) passes east of Austin we stopped at a historic marker and noticed a USFS campground just
across the road (Bob Scott). We drove in to check it out - nice place with juniper trees and no wind but the time was only 1600. We knew by then that we were not going to make Great Basin before dark so C.J.

Sunset near Ely, NV

studied the choices in our 2009 AAA Campbook and found a Forest Service CG just a few miles east of
Ely. The rest of the drive on US 50 ("the loneliest road in the country", according to Life in 1954 (eastern terminus at Ely)) was pleasant, over ranges and across basins with the Sorento getting better and better mileage in spite of the up and down nature of the land. We stopped for gas at just about sundown (1800 in this eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone) in Ely (Shell 379.9) and then tried to find the CG. I guess it just wasn't there anymore and we ended up boondocking in a gravel pit with a good view of the spectacular sunset just off FS443 about six miles from Ely.


30 Sep, Mon - It was pretty chilly overnight at 6600 ft with a clear sky full of stars. We woke early at 0630

Aspens in Great Basin NP

and were on the road by 0730. Since it was only 51 miles to Baker and Great Basin National Park (GBNP) over some nice passes we were there by 0830 or so. We stopped at the VC to pick up a park map and newspaper, and chat with the ranger. It was okay to leave the trailer in the parking lot so we detached (but forgot to turn the propane refrigerator on). We took the Scenic Drive to the Wheeler Peak CG (closed) and trailhead at about 10,000 ft. There were a few trails and we had decided to take the Alpine Lakes Loop (2.7 mile 600 ft gain). It was pleasant hiking through the Engelmann spruce, Doug fir, and limber pine forest and meadows. Two small herds of deer barely moved aside as they watched us. Lakes Stella and Teresa were not much larger than ponds but provided great views of Wheeler and Jeff Davis Peaks. The descent to Teresa was more than we thought we had climbed and when we reached the trail junction for the Bristlecone Pine/Rock Glacier (0.7 and 1.3 mi) we decided to go for it. The trail descended a bit before leveling off and contouring the slope through dark

Bristlecone Pine, GBNP

shade which kept the recent snowfall mostly frozen on the trail. The climb to the bristlecone pine grove through the mounds of talus wasn't too bad and we soon reached the short BCP interpretive trail. Once we finished that, the trail to the view of a glacier remnant and rock glacier tempted us to the last interpretive sign. The return along the same trail was moderately tiring but it was mostly downhill to the trailhead (1345). We ate some lunch while driving down with a stop at Wheeler Overlook (We had stopped on the way up at Mather Overlook) and then again to try to fill our water containers at the two Lehman Creek
campgrounds. Both the upper and lower CG were open but the water had been turned off for the season and the fee had been reduced from $12 to $6. We returned to the VC where we got our water and hitched up the trailer. We decided to run the fridge on 12V, something we had not done since our first trips. It was a long drive on US 50 but some of the ranges we passed through were really scenic. The trip north to Delta was NOT scenic and seemed to take forever as we skirted Sevier dry lake. Then we had to jog south 20 miles to I-15 then back north to Scipio and south again to Richfield. We found the KOA RV Park easily enough but then had to figure out the late check-in procedure and pay the typically high KOA price ($39.63). Still it was nice to refill our water tank and hook up with water and electricity (good thing too, since I measured the battery at 11.8V after running the fridge on 12V all afternoon). Good showers, and a good dinner -both late, and late to bed on Mtn Daylight Time.


1 Oct, Tue - We left KOA in time to drive the quarter-mile to the Quality Inn meet headquarters for the 10

Cove Launch

am pilots meeting. There were a number of hang glider pilots including John Heiney and a cinematographer, Tony Ritter, hanging around outside since the meeting hadn't started. The meeting had been delayed because fly-in organizer Stacy Whitmore had not gotten back from an early morning (met at 0700) flydown from Monroe Peak (11,200 ft). The meeting when it finally got started was fairly useless except for the round of introductions of the dozen or more pilots who had not gone back up Monroe for a second flight. [It turned out that something like 35 pilots signed up for the $60pp fly-in.] We picked up our polyester t-shirts and a couple of vouchers for free meals. Then we drove

cloud formation near Cove TO

to the Cove LZ just north of the town of Monroe and placed the trailer next to Barrett's camper. Around 1230 a bunch of pilots arrived who wanted to fly midday. We got to ride up with John Heiney in his 4WD VW van (refit with a diesel engine). The road up to the Cove launch [From Monroe take Washburnville Rd N to Omni Point (Main St, Landslide Rd) to the unpaved Thompson Basin Rd] was rough but nothing that our Kia couldn't have handled although I would like to have more sturdy tires. Launch was at 8700 ft in an open meadow and the surface was pretty rough especially the HG launch. After watching several launches and the surging in the air we decided not to fly during

John Heiney on launch

the middle of the day and waited for the next group to come up around 1630 for the hoped-for glassoff. Meanwhile Ken Hudonjorgenson had gotten high; Dawn had followed him and Martin, a visiting Brit, had disappeared to the north. Ken and Dawn re-appeared from the S and Ken got up over Monroe town  but Dawn had to land east of the power lines in the foothills. Conditions had improved but it was still gusty on launch as several pilots demonstrated. I got ready to go around 1730 and managed to pull off a good launch. I went straight up off launch with no forward speed and I right away decided that the air was not as smooth as it appeared to be. I had lots of surges and immediately decided to head out to the LZ without even turning

Cove TO with Richfield in the distance

on my vario. The wind was not cooperating and I kept getting higher (to near 10,000 ft from the 8700 ft takeoff) and only slowly creeping forward. Eventually I got out over Monroe and tried coring sink with limited success (by now I had switched on the vario). I was staying upwind of the LZ especially after a report of strong, gusty winds on the radio. At some point either the SW winds got stronger or I got down below 8000 ft where the valley winds were stronger, and my GPS indicated I was going NE at 10 kph when I pointed SW. I tried 1/2 speed bar, then, when the air smoothed out, full speedbar but I was still drifting NE, then N on the wrong side (E) of the powerlines over the rough foothills. I thought I might be able to reach the fields near Annabella but the lift was shutting down as the sun went down and I had to pick a ridge to land on that had less sage and other obstructions than some others. Also, it wasn't too far from civilization, i.e., a road and houses. I packed up and walked down a trail under the powerlines to a paved road serving

Map/tracklog from my flight

the custom homes, then along Shadow Mtn Rd to Washburnville Rd, the main route between Monroe and points north, about a mile in all. I arrived just about the same time it got dark so I turned on the little strobe light from the Israel trip. Minutes later I had a ride back to the LZ with Will, one of the pilots from GB. A bunch of people including C.J. had been unable to land in the LZ and had been pushed north to other fields (but only one had been pushed as far into the foothills as I was). We drove back to Richfield so C.J. could email the EdNotes to Nick. I got gas at Maverick (3.569 disc) and we signed in. Then we went back to the LZ and set up the trailer and had soup for dinner. Both of us had flown for about an hour and I landed about 2.2 miles from the LZ. C.J. had managed to NOT back up into a reasonably friendly field with other pilots (She actually landed going forward).


 2 Oct, Wed - We had alarm clock functions set on our mobile phones for 0600 so that we could make the meeting time of 0800 at the Monroe rodeo grounds LZ for an early morning flight from Monroe Peak (11,200 ft). It was still pitch-black dark at 0600 and we thought at first that our alarms had malfunctioned.

Monroe Peak launch panorama

There was adequate time for breakfast and for C.J. to sort out her hastily-packed gear. We moved some stuff into the trailer so that we had room to give Barrett a ride to the LZ. [His jeep had been left on Cove TO with a broken clutch.] There were about 22 PG plus Stacy and drivers gathered and after a briefing we drove the nine-plus miles to the summit on a gravel road. C.J. and I and seven others rode up with Stacy and a local driver who provided a big, old van. Our gear went up in a large pickup truck. No one wasted any time getting ready and taking off. Almost everyone required two or three attempts in the light and crosswind

Lake and aspens from the air

conditions. C.J. did a forward and I followed immediately with a reverse (I had a couple of aborts before C.J. launched). It was cool to follow C.J. out over the aspens on a slope above the lakes, then over Monroe 10 (a ridge at 10,000 ft), then Monroe 9, then turn right to follow a ridge at 8000 ft. Flying out above the the valley floor (5400 ft) we were still two thousand feet or more above, plenty of time to set up a landing in the essentially calm conditions. [Flight duration: ~25 min. Flight distance: ~6 mi] After packing up we all hung out for a while on the grassy berm enjoying the warm sun after the cold of 11,000 ft. and the flight.

G in Monroe rodeo grounds LZ

Eventually we all headed back to the Quality Inn for the scheduled 1100 meeting. Stacy didn't make it back for the start and Ken H began the meeting with a discussion of the flights on Tues. when the winds below 8000 ft became stronger as you descended (until 20-200 ft above the ground so it wasn't obvious to those on the ground who might otherwise have warned those flying). When Stacy made it back (after helping replace a flat tire on the pickup that carried the gear), he continued the discussion with the intent to make it a learning experience. Judy, Stacy's wife, asked us to please sign back in so no one would be left out in the hills or injured. Later most of us went over to Ace Hardware with our free burger-fries-drink vouchers for lunch. There, one server dumped fries in the automated cooker while another server gave us meat patties and bun which we ran through another cooker on a conveyor-belt. In a minute or so the burgers came out cooked just about perfectly along with toasted buns. We added sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and the usual condiments and picked up our drinks and fries. Quite an interesting operation, particularly located in a hardware store. After lunch we said goodbye to John Heiney and Tony Ritter who were heading back to San Diego. We drove south to Sevier and then a ways up the Sevier R. canyon (toward Panguitch) before turning back and heading for the Fremont Indian State Park. The museum cost $3pp and we were told that it was free if you paid for camping

Sun on Castle Rocks

at Castle Rocks CG (a USFS CG administered by the Utah Dept of Parks and Rec.) so we drove up to check out Castle Rocks and it was a really scenic location. After a quick drive through the almost empty campground, we decided to move the trailer down there for the night if C.J. could pick up her email from FFF president Randy Leggett. She was able to access email via her phone (and I got it, too, with K9 on my mobile). So we drove back to the Cove LZ where Barrett had already packed up and headed back to St. George where he is a plasterer. It didn't take long to pack the trailer and return to Castle Rocks. We settled on an open site with good views of the steep rock walls in the afternoon sun. After setting up we took a sneaker hike so we could get up close to the channeled and sculptured rocks. We turned back from more strenuous climbing and searched out an official FS trail that continued up the canyon to the south. We walked for 30 minutes before turning back at a stream crossing. There were lots of yellow aspen, oak and willow trees with a scattering of other colors. Back at camp I

C.J. at Castle Rocks

washed my hair and changed clothes with a view toward traveling. The weather forecast was for increasing chance of rain and drastically lower temps (low of 21!). Our plan for Thu was to go to the 1000 meeting at the (free) French toast feed at Ideal Dairy in Richfield. Then we would probably head north to wherever we could get - maybe as far as a Walmart in Burley or Twin Falls...or maybe only to Brigham City (I didn't want to drive the I-82 pass into ID in the dark). C.J. spent the evening working on finishing the scrapbook she had to upload to Shutterfly by Friday.

3 Oct, Thu - We got up at 0750 and, because we did not have to cook breakfast, we were out of the CG

C.J. and a pit house

by 0830. That gave us time to look at some of the outside exhibits, like a pit house, at Fremont Indian  State Park. We also took a short walk on a paved trail past a number of petroglyphs in the nearby canyon. By then the museum was open and we looked around the VC and displays, and learned about several trails that would take us to see more petroglyphs. By 0930 we were on our way to Richfield. There was a good crowd of pilots at Ideal Dairy where we all had coupons for a free all-you-can-eat French toast breakfast. C.J. and I also bought cocoa with whipped cream. The weather report still looked grim for Thursday and Friday (cold and windy with a chance of

Rock with petroglyphs

precip) so we said goodbye and hit the road.

Petroglyphs

We took I-70 to Salina and then SR 89  to Nephi where we hit I-15. We kept going and the weather kept improving, except for the strong wind, all the way to Ogden where we stopped for gas (3.399) and a slice of pizza at Costco. Then we continued on over the high ground between UT and ID. Just into ID and beyond the 5500 ft summit we ran into rain which changed to snow then back to rain as we descended. The rain continued well past Twin Falls and we were thinking without enthusiasm about having to set up in the cold wind and rain. C.J. had called a Passport America RV Park near Malad Gorge in Hageman and told them we were on our way. Just past the first turnoff for Hageman the rain  tapered off and by 1830 when we arrived, the sun was shining. C.J. got right to work on her scrapbook which has to be uploaded on Fri. She stopped long enough to eat (I prepared toasted cheese sandwiches and the rest of the soup) and then kept working until 1045 or so.

4 Oct, Fri - The clear skies promoted radiational cooling and the temperature got down below freezing overnight. That must have affected the electronic lock on the bathroom because I couldn't get in to take a shower. It was barely warm enough with quilt, comforter, fleece blanket and flannel sheets. We were on the road by 0930 in cold but clear conditions. We stopped for gas at Nampa Costco (3.499) and then drove on to the Oregon welcome center. There was free wi-fi so C.J. was able to upload her scrapbook pages for her ":free" Shutterfly book and then arrange them in the 20-pg book.

Branch in the driveway

It took about two hours and there seemed to be a number of undocumented steps you are supposed to do to get the book made. Around 1420 we continued on not stopping until we reached Costco at Union Gap with the gas light on (about 1.6 gal remaining). Then we shared a Big Miner burger, fries and drink - one meal was easily enough for the two of us. We drove through Yakima Canyon in the dark and over Snoq. Pass. No trouble with "bad gas" this time as we averaged 22.1 mpg. We arrived home around 2125 to find a big limb blocking the driveway and the 6-inch rain gauge overflowing..