Tracy, CA to Sisters, OR

I have been working in the Bay Area for a few weeks and I usually do not get a chance to fly back home to Sisters, OR very often due to the weather this time of year. This year is different. The drought conditions are never a good thing out West but it has made the flying conditions spectacular. I am posting some pictures from two recent flights. If you are familiar with the area, the pictures of Mt. Shasta's lack of snow and a January forest fire in the Sierra will make it apparent we have a drought problem. Crater Lake always looks good no matter what the conditions. Mt. Bachelor looks good but I guarantee you they are skiing on man-made snow. The Three Sisters are also hurting but they always look good to me because I know I am close to home. Here are the pics from South to North:

Sutter Buttes, CA "Worlds Smallest Mountain Range"

[/IMG]

TFR north of Chico, CA

[/IMG]

Fire in the foothills of the Sierra north of Chico, CA

[/IMG]

Lake Shasta, CA

[/IMG]

Mt. Shasta, CA

[/IMG]

Crater Lake, OR

[/IMG]

Mt. Bachelor, OR

[/IMG]

Three Sisters and Broken Top, OR

[/IMG]

Nice photos. Very scenic flight. Must have been fun. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful pictures, Mike! And nice narrative, too. I'll look forward to more of your posts in the future. I'm also looking forward to flying over to Sisters when I get mine finished, hopefully soon! Do you ever get over to the Portland area?

WOW! I grew up in Redding and have never seen Mt. Shasta naked like your photos show, this is a very bad drought year for all the west. Nice slide show!

I used to live in the Bay Area and would fly to the Pacific Northwest at least once a year. I sure miss it!

I've never seen Mt. Shasta so bare, even in the summer.

Living on the east coast, I've never seen Mt. Shasta...period. Except for maybe flying over at 30,000 and then I didn't know what it was. Thanks for sharing some beautiful pictures Mike.

Fabulous views

everywhere while flying between Redding Ca. and Sisters Oregon. Mike, you are one lucky guy having this scenery on your way to work each trip. I'm also lucky to have Mt. Shasta fill the southern horizon as a view from the swing on my front porch. That's part of the reason I moved up here from the Bay Area. While I love flying in this glass smooth air and unlimited visibility I'm not so fond of the drought conditions. Hopefully, we won't suffer too much this summer, but I'm afraid it's not going to get better for a while.
Thanks for the neat pics. When are you going to take one in the Crater Lake slot? Bet that would be a winner.