More Johnson Creek

Johnson Creek Airstrip campsite in the trees and our Rebel at Johnson Creek. Johnson Creek is also a great destination for fly fishing. Many people fly in and walk a short distance to the stream running nearby the airstrip. Beautiful place and one of our favorites!

ABC Wednesday - J is for Johnson Creek Airstrip, Idaho

ABC Weds - J is for Johnson Creek Airstrip, Idaho. This airstrip is the premiere backcountry airstrip destination for backcountry pilots all over the West (seen from above as we circle with other aircraft going into land at that small green strip surrounded by trees).

We have been into this remote backcountry strip several times, but last summer was the first time for the Murphy Rebel. Johnson Creek is the premiere destination for backcountry pilots all over the west. It has all the amenities - showers, water, shaded campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, and best of all - lots of airplanes show up in the summer.
Last summer in late June, we flew the Rebel to Idaho - 8 hours of flying from Mid Valley to Smiley Creek - another Idaho airstrip (not so backcountry, but beautiful never-the-less). We spent an evening at Smiley and the next morning (after a wonderful breakfast at Smiley Creek Lodge right across the highway from the airstrip), we flew to Johnson Creek. This was when aviation fuel was pushing $6 a gallon in some places. Our expectations were that there would not be many airplanes at Johnson Creek - boy, were we wrong - when we arrived about mid-morning, only a few spots along the runway remained for tiedowns and the best campsites were gone. Already airplanes were lining up on the opposite side of the runway. After a great landing by Mike, we tied down the Rebel and found a campsite in the pine trees. We spent a few days here and by the time we left, one day we counted nearly 80 airplanes! So much for that high-priced fuel keeping pilots grounded! We met many folks we now count as friends and have met up with them at Oshkosh and other fly-in destinations (Durango, Casa Grande to name a few).

Off to Mineral Canyon Airstrip

This weekend (Friday March 20) we are flying our Rebel to Mineral Canyon Airstrip (see photo left). We plan to fly there and camp overnight like we did last year about this time.

The photo shows our campsite at Mineral Canyon Airstrip which is along the Green River (northwest of Moab). It's a dirt strip near the takeout/put in for the rafters going down the Green River.

It is an incredible place of beauty! That's me relaxing in the morning next to our campfire. Our home (tent) is alongside the Rebel. Not exactly Lazy Daze camping, but then you couldn't get a Lazy Daze down into this canyon either so it is just a different experience. No microwave, no indoor toilet, no TV, but wonderful quiet, many stars, incredible beauty too. This is Airplane Camping in the Backcountry!

ABC Wednesday - Indian Paintbrush

I had to dig back into our 2007 photos to locate a photo of an Indian Paintbrush. Mike took this photo while we were on a Spring vacation with my Mother to Lake Powell, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Flagstaff in our Lazy Daze. It was many firsts for Mom as she had never camped before, never really been in a motor home, never been to this part of the country... she was dazzled to say the least! She enjoyed these flowers we found along the roadside. I made her hike with me at Bryce Canyon - she did extremely well. We met some other Lazy Daze people there at the Bryce National Park Campground. Mom will probably say feeding the birds at Lake Powell was one of the highlights of her trip. I hope we can convince her to do this again with us!

ABC Wednesday - H is for Hanksville - March 11, 2009

Here is is - ABC Wednesday again. The letter for today is H - H is for Hanksville, Utah. Hanksville Airport (HVE) is one of our favorite places to launch out of in our Murphy Rebel. We have spent many a spring and fall there, camping and flying both early morning and evening for the best photo opportunities. Just a few miles west of the Hanksville Airport is Factory Butte (one of the world's wonders in our eyes). Not only is it close to Factory Butte, it is within a short flying distance from Lake Powell, Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon, Waterfold Pocket, San Rafael Reef, the Maze area of Canyonlands and more.

This photo is of the Firestar II at Hanksville Airport back in 2004 - pre-Lazy Daze days. Probably had our Airstream Class B there.

Since that time, we have visited this airport at least once a year, sometimes twice for a week at a time for launching out in our airplane for aerial photos. It is a quiet airport, no fuel, bathroom facilities are there, but always have to watch out for spiders.

So this is my contribution for ABC Weds - the letter H - hats off to Hanksville!

The Rebel is Back in the Air - March 8, 2009

Our Murphy Rebel is back in the air - Yay!

A view out the right side of the Rebel from June/July 2008, at the Grand Tetons on a trip from Yellowstone to Blanding.

The Rebel tailwheel is new and makes the airplane sit a bit higher while taxiing. The feel of the ground handling is a little different, but I will adjust to her. Mike continues to experiment with vortex generators and something he calls darts on the wing and horizontal tail. This is to allow more control over flight into the dirt strips of Utah and Idaho - this spring and summer. We should see plenty of those backcountry strips soon.

The windy weather has made flying hit and miss here south of Albuquerque for the last few days. We took advantage of the winds to get some crosswind landing practice at Belen Alexander yesterday and a landing on our East/West dirt runway at Mid Valley on our return from our breakfast flight to Belen.

Mike spent the weekend building a presentation on Southwest Landscapes that he will be giving to the Women of Mid Valley this Tuesday, March 10th at our monthly meeting at our house. His photos are mostly aerial photos of the Southwestern US taken from nearly all our airplanes - a snowy long view of Mount Taylor in the winter from the Glasair III, many photos of Monument Valley and Bryce Canyon from the Rebel, the Abajos and golden aspen from the RV-4, Factory Butte with a dark cloud backdrop from the Kolb Firestar II, and more recently his photos of Deming, Silver City, and Arizona from the Rans S-18! Awesome! We agree - the best viewing platform (other than the actual airplane) will be our 52 inch Sony Bravia with accompanying music on the Sony Surround Sound system. Blows you away!

Next weekend, we take a Over 55 Driving Course here at Mid Valley - gets us insurance discounts.

Back to work for me tomorrow after my usual 3 day holiday - I read all the blogs of full-timers and long for the day when I can just take wing and/or our LD and not have to think about a definite return date.

G is for Glasair III N555MJ

ABC Wednesday Again - G is for Glasair III N555MJ, our fast sexy looking bird. This is a photo of my Mom, Dad and me at Sabetha Municipal Airport from a number of years ago - on our way to Oshkosh in late July for the big Fly-in. The back is piled high with camping gear - usually around 150 # worth since we stay all week.

It took us 6 years to build this beautiful bird - we started in 1989 and my husband Mike flew it in the Fall of 1994. We have Stoddard Hamilton (now New Glasair) to thank for a really solid design - and fast - cruises around 200 kts. Always the first airplane we think of when we want to get there fast!