Scott and Deb's EXcellent Weekend Excursion

Scott and Deb's EXcellent Weekend Excursions: Page, AZ

Given that the wife and I have been going stir crazy at home due to a lack of traveling in the RV, and the last two trips we had planned for this year have fallen through, we felt that a weekend excursion was in order. We were looking for a getaway that was within RV range and wouldn?t break the bank. Adding some ?landed there? pins to the northwestern section of our Airport Landings map is among our goals for 2009, so we began laying the groundwork for a trip to Montana. When the weather began ?heading south,? so did we?to Page, Arizona to visit Glen Canyon and Lake Powell.

Booking a room in a popular tourist destination like Page was a bit difficult on short notice, but I finally managed to find one that could be had with hotel reward points at the Courtyard Marriott. One of the perks of traveling so often for work is that I earn loads of reward points toward free rooms.

We were wheels up out of Front Range at 8:27 a.m. on Friday, June 12th en route to Pueblo for a quick spot of breakfast at the Spitfire Grill and to top off the tanks before heading southwest over La Veta pass. Winds out of the west lengthened our trip duration a bit, but the majority of the flight was smooth. We managed to maintain about 150 kts ground speed most of the way. Total time in the air was 3.5 hours.

Return flight we were wheels up at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday the 14th with 2.6 hours of non-stop flight time. As is typical going over the rock pile, the ride got a bit bumpy.

So what?s a trip like this cost? I?m glad you asked. The cost breakdown was as follows:

Fuel $177
Meals $172
Admissions $79
Rental Car/Gas $121
Total $549

Hotel $300 (no cost to us)


While it?s easy enough to calculate the dollar value of a trip like this, the fun factor is beyond measure! It makes the four years it took build 339A well worth it.

The pictures follow our trip in chronological order.



Departing from Front Range, Pikes Peak in the background



On the ground at Pueblo



Over La Veta Pass headed into the Alamosa Valley



Nice view of the Rio Grande and some circular crops



Flying over Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado



Can you spot the waterfalls among the rocks?



Vallecito Reservoir in Bayfield, CO



Coming in to Lake Powell



Pilot view of Powell



City of Page



More to follow...

Page, AZ Continued ...

Base to final at Page Municipal Airport



Lunch at the Dam Bar & Grille



Frontal view of Courtyard Marriott



Looking up Glen Canyon at the Dam



Sunset over Glen Canyon



Looking back out the Antelope Valley Slot Canyon entrance



This picture has been inverted to create the illusion of sunset over a butte



"Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives ..."



Well known canyon rock formation named the eagle--can you see it?



Sand thrown into the sunlight by our guide appears to create an apparition (either that or Captain Kirk is beaming down)



More to follow...

Page, AZ Continued...

Shot of the dam looking north



Sunset as seen from a scenic overlook



Taxiing to runway 33 with the Navajo Generating Station in the background



Departing runway 33 at PGA



Various shots of Lake Powell













More to follow...

Wow Scott, thanks for sharing. Maybe we're right behind you. Where did you get those pictures of CO. That isn't what it looked like just a few weeks ago when we were there .

Page, AZ Final Post

Heading up the Gunnison River Valley toward Marshall Pass





Going through Marshall Pass



Left base runway 26 at Front Range



Doin' the airplane shuffle at the hangar



Scotty's Spotty of the trip




The End.

scard said:

Wow Scott, thanks for sharing. Maybe we're right behind you. Where did you get those pictures of CO. That isn't what it looked like just a few weeks ago when we were there .

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This is what the beautiful state of Colorado looks like when it's NOT raining and overcast! Sorry you didn't get to see it. This trip was a great time. Hope you and Tanya get to make it.

Beautiful shots Scott!

I used to routinely fly all around Lake Powell/Monument Valley and on to Farmington, NM on business trips...sure brings back some great memories, like the night I landed at Page about 2300hrs and had just stepped out of my plane when somebody dead sticked an airplane onto the runway...I went over to see if he was OK and he got out...pretty relieved to have lived through it...and he couldn't believe the luck that after he lost his electrical system, then had an engine out...and then someone turned on the runway lights for him at just the critical time!

Is there still a VFR flyway over the Grand Canyon out of Page? I did that one morning and it was one of the high points of my flying years...

Plan to fly out to Homecoming in August Scott, we'd love to have ya! Free housing and lots of friends!

Bob, there are three or so flight path corridors over the Grand Canyon. Get the Grand Canyon chart for details. I have done two of them.

Great Trip Report

Thanks for the great trip report. Sure is beautiful country. Definately on my list of places to go!

Wow. Very nice. The moving sand pictures are impressive. Thank you Scott.

339A said:

"Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives ..."

Sand thrown into the sunlight by our guide, appears to create an apparition (either that or Captain Kirk is beaming down)

.

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Thanks Bob

Bob Brown said:

Beautiful shots Scott!

I used to routinely fly all around Lake Powell/Monument Valley and on to Farmington, NM on business trips...sure brings back some great memories, like the night I landed at Page about 2300hrs and had just stepped out of my plane when somebody dead sticked an airplane onto the runway...I went over to see if he was OK and he got out...pretty relieved to have lived through it...and he couldn't believe the luck that after he lost his electrical system, then had an engine out...and then someone turned on the runway lights for him at just the critical time!

Is there still a VFR flyway over the Grand Canyon out of Page? I did that one morning and it was one of the high points of my flying years...

Plan to fly out to Homecoming in August Scott, we'd love to have ya! Free housing and lots of friends!

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Lucky for me that Deb takes most of the pictures, otherwise they probably wouldn't happen. Great to have a wife that likes to fly with me. Originally we had planned on flying the Grand Canyon flyways, but decided to save that for another trip. Don't want to run of of places to fly to quick.

We had been planning a North West tour for this summer, but my work has other ideas. However the end of August sounds like a good time for a trip up that way. We have something in the works for Labor day weekend and a trip to Homecoming is in order. Might be able to combine them and make it a two week trip. So much fun.

Altitudes thru passes

Scott,
Thanks for the great writeup! I'm in Vegas and looking at exploring Colorado. What altitudes did you use through the mountain passes you flew through?

Thanks!

Seb Trost
RV-7A
Boulder City, NV (KBVU)

Pass Altitudes

SebsRV7A said:

Scott,
Thanks for the great writeup! I'm in Vegas and looking at exploring Colorado. What altitudes did you use through the mountain passes you flew through?

Thanks!

Seb Trost
RV-7A
Boulder City, NV (KBVU)

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Seb,

While I’m no Sparky Imeson (RIP) when it comes to mountain flying, I can tell you what my personal preferences are for flying the mountain passes.
As a general rule I like to have 2000 feet between me and the pass. Now in the picture where we are headed over Marshall Pass we are at 13,500. The pass altitude is 10,845 leaving about 2600 feet between us and the pass. The mountain to the left is Mt. Ouray at 13,971 feet. Going over Wolf Creek pass I use 12,500 or higher given that the pass is 10,857. One thing that is a must, Colorado has weather stations on most of the major passes, get the frequencies for them here. The altimeter setting will NOT be the same as the airport you took off from due to lapse rate. It makes a huge difference in what you are seeing on the altimeter.

Another rule is to check winds aloft and fly early in the day before noon, it is always bumpy flying over the rock pile. Anything over 25 and the ride is going to be interesting. Above thirty I am probably not going. On this trip Monarch Pass was reporting 26 gusting to 36 out of 240, it is just north of Marshall pass. The report comes from the station which is on the ground at the top of the pass. The winds at 13,500 were not that high…. as my ground speed slowed down going through the pass, I should have seen about 185 kts but only showed 160 kts. Just goes to show the difference in what one can expect when flying the mountains.

It is quite intimidating flying amongst the mountains, but it is the most beautiful flying I have ever done. Enjoy your trip and fly safe.

Regards,

339A said:

It is quite intimidating flying amongst the mountains but, it is the most beautiful flying I have ever done. Enjoy your trip and fly safe.

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I feel that the panoramic mountain view from an RV is worth it too! Even though a few airline pilots I know, who are use to engine redundancy would disagree.. At least there are a few dirt roads and valley meadows up there.

These two pics are from the Uinta mountain range in Utah. I had to go up to 13,500 msl to get over the pass. We used oxygen.

And BTW, enjoyed your Lake Powell pics. We've flown the lake from Page to the confluence of the Green and Colorado this year (stayed in Kanab); but two trips to Monument Valley and Page which included hotels were cancelled due to bad weather both times.






L.Adamson -- RV6A

Great trip report Scott! I personally am tired of all the rain we've been getting out here in CO...but as your pics show, it sure has greened everything up.

Nice trip report, Scott, and AWESOME pictures! Thanks for posting this. Can't wait to join you on these kinds of adventures!