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PIREP: Grand Canyon Caverns (L37)
One of the joys of living in the Las Vegas area is the
exceptional flying conditions we mostly get in the fall. Lower temperatures, a clear sky, and a general lack of turbulence allow you can take off for an entire day of flying fun with even the most timid passenger. Not all the time, of course, since the last few days have been windy, bumpy, and visibility 3SM courtesy of the CA forest fires. But mostly. My friend and I took off from Boulder City mid-morning in beautiful conditions & headed out over Black Canyon, where the Colorado river cuts south after leaving the Hoover Dam. The view south is spectacular, with lake Mojave widening out as the river heads off to the gulf of California. The low-lying lands around the lake and the mountains of Bullhead City in the distance shrouded in the morning mist seem like something out of Middle Earth. Across the river, we climb up over the mountains to the east covered with some of the largest Joshua trees I've seen and then descend over Red Lake - a 10 mile wide dry lake bed some 30 miles north of Kingman. There seems to be a perpetual NOTAM out for parachute jumping over the dry lake, but once again I'm at a loss to see either planes, parachutes, or the expected supporting ground paraphernalia. Scooting south, we fly over the 'road' which leads up to Meadview and the marinas at the upriver arm of Lake Mead. Flying IFR (I follow roads), we join old route 66 as it starts its gentle ascent up to the high plateau which makes up most of the south rim of the grand canyon. It seems proper to keep to the right of the road. Where did that come from? Don't know, but it seems natural & if everyone did it, there'd be little chance of mid-airs. And you can keep your emergency landing areas in sight in what is rapidly becoming some wild terrain. We pass over the small town of Valentine and some obviously fine houses. What do these people *do* out there? Is gold mining so profitable? Climbing still, we follow the railroad which diverges from the highway proper. Clearly a sign of some rugged terrain, as it twists and turns, but it doesn't look so bad from 2000 AGL. We comfortably beat the 4-engine mile-long train, as it wends its way up to the highlands at 5mph. Grand Canyon Caverns airport is close to the road and not too hard to spot. Not surprising, really, since the caverns and the airport are the only things for miles. The airport diagram boasts a wind sock, but neither of us can see it. Undaunted, we circle and join the crosswind for runway 5. The runway is gravel, 5000' or so, and supposedly 45' across. Landing to the north, we make a smooth touchdown and taxi gingerly to the end of the runway. The 'sock' is flaccid, with just a little hint of wind from the north. That must be why I didn't see it from the air. Oh well, next problem is where, if any, can one stop? The gravel looks to be flying around a bit, so I keep the yoke fully back & keep going onto the access road. More gravel and dirt, so it seems like we're taking a country back road. Quite a distance, but after about 1/3 mile or so, we come to an asphalt road, taxi up next to the Laundromat and shut down. We're the only plane. Everyone else parked there is a car. A fine fellow, whose name I didn't catch, comes out of the adjoining motel to greet us & asks if he can take a picture. Sure. They are collecting fly-in pictures, so make sure your plane is shiny and clean. He summons a car from the caverns & off we go. No tiedowns, though, so I'm a little worried to leave the 182. Into the wind. Brake on. Chocks on wheels. Control lock in. And all locked up, Cessna style, which involves scrambling through the baggage door to latch everything before exiting, bum first, out the back. Wouldn't want to find a swarm of little brats playing "Biggles" in my plane when I get back. The caverns themselves (perhaps we should have taxied the extra 1/2 mile?) are a wonderful 50's style "Roadside Attraction", complete with plastic dinosaurs greeting visitors. There's a quite acceptable 'diner style' restaurant inside, and tours leave for the 'deep' every 1/2 hour or so. So after a quick 'rest', we're off down the 200' elevator into the heart of one of the few dry limestone caves in the US. $14. Although the caverns are nearly 20 miles from the grand canyon, there is a connection. Apparently, in the 60's, the Core of Engineers set off some smoke bombs to trace a wind blowing from one end of the caverns. About 2 days later, smoke was seen coming from a small hole about 1000' below the south rim. No one has navigated there themselves, so who knows how big the passage is. Why were the CofE down there? Well, it appears that in the 60's it became a designated fallout shelter, complete with food stocks for 2 weeks for 2000 people. The food drums are still there, together with (now stagnant) water, and apparently only three toilet rolls. The thought of 2000 people, presumably all politicians, groveling around in the dark after the emergency batteries give out, trying to remember which barrels had already been used as a bathroom and which still contained food, while fighting over the last remaining toilet tissue brings a smile to my face. We proceed through the caverns to the old entrance. Apparently, the original discovery was made by a fellow who fell down a hole from the plateau above. The hole has been filled in since the discovery, at the request of the Hualapi Indians who 'accidentally' once used it to bury a comrade who fell ill whilst hunting. But in the distant past, a (now extinct) giant sloth fell in there too, couldn't get out, and left scratch marks and part of a claw in the rock. Back in daylight, we hitch a ride with another fine person (wish I could remember her name) back to the plane. The whole site now has new owners, and one of the owners is a pilot. They have great plans. An 'old town', with cabins without electricity or TV,. all for rent. And they plan to pave the runway on the cheap. Well, I suppose paving 5000x45' would run some $200K or so. They are proposing to do a deal with the local drag racers where they get to pave it and use it some of the time. Not sure how that would work. I guess the planes would have to just merge in with the dragster traffic and hope that the wind was in the right direction.... So back to the plane, which is now in a car park with far more cars than when we left. Bah! What's that I see? Rugrats! Oh well, we carefully preflight,. checking especially for sticky fingers and slobber. In we climb, and wait for the house ape minders to round the little buggers up. "Clear Prop"! This time I mean it and am especially careful not to make a mess on the prop with some potential little lawsuit filer. Back along the windy road we taxi, and onto a concrete runup area at the approach end of 23. That's good. We check everything out & then start a soft-field departure roll. With thick gravel and a 7500' density altitude, it takes a couple of thousand feet to get airborne. Have to be a bit nimble on the feet as the nosewheel comes up early & there is a slight crosswind. The sock is now semi-turgid. Fortunately, we got to land to the north and depart to the south, otherwise, it would be a long taxi down to or up from the takeoff/rollout spot. The afternoon brings with it a few minor bumps, but we're soon above most of it and on our way over Peach Springs. I open the flight plan with Prescott FSS for the short but desolate trip back to Boulder City. Past Peach Springs VOR -- easy to find in the middle of a broad plane with the grand canyon to the north -- it's like falling off the side of a mountain as the terrain drops rapidly some 3000' to Red Lake again. Come to think of it, it's exactly like falling off the side of a mountain. We take the northerly route, scooting just south of Temple Bar marina on the south side of Lake Mead. Then, a short hop over the Colorado again and we're home. No nicks on the prop. No body parts either. I'd call that a success. So that's why I fly. How did you spend your Sunday? -- Dr. Tony Cox Citrus Controls Inc. e-mail: http://CitrusControls.com/ |
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