Johnson Creek Flying/Camping Trip

Time for another backcountry flying/camping trip to Johnson Creek.

My flying buddy, Mike, and I departed at 0530 Sunday morning and headed north.

The entire trip north is full of beauty and its hard to take it all in. We spent a few minutes exploring the Canyonlands/Moab, Utah area. It was very hot at ground level but we made approaches into several of the backcountry airstrips in the area.

Our first fuel stop was at Price, Utah and were a bit surprised by rain in the area.

After getting fuel, the trip continued up the east side of the Wasatch mountain range near Salt Lake City. The rain continued for a good ways but eventually we got past it. We have occasionally experienced uncomfortable warm temperatures and an overdose of UV on these north/south legs. Not this time and I was thankful! Cloud cover and very cool temps made for a very comfortable flight.

Challis, ID has become our new backcountry entry point as it allows us to arrive at Johnson Creek with maximum fuel for the next day of sight-seeing.

At noon, after two fuel stops, we were on the ground at Johnson Creek, Idaho. The RV-4 is a magic carpet. 740 nautical miles (845 statute miles) before lunch – amazing!!

Our camp site was setup pretty quickly in the shade of the tall pine trees. I have a new four man tent that is nice and roomy compared to the one-man ultralight tent that I have used the last few years. No… I don’t need all that space but I guess it’s the American way… excess and all that.

Johnson Creek himself – right out my back door!

The view of our airplanes from camp.

A new task for me this year was adjusting the pitch of my Sensenich GA prop in the field. The idea behind this prop was being able to fly to Idaho with a cruise setting for good airspeed, change to a climb/performance setting once there – to be able to get in and out of the short airstrips and steep mountain valleys, and then change back to a cruise setting for the trip home. My kit consisted of the lightest torque wrench/indicator that I could find. It worked as expected and the two pitch changes went very quickly and smoothly. Sensenich has made the process incredibly easy with the pitch pins that are provided with the prop – kuddos to you guys!

This trip was a bit later than a our typical middle of June schedule. We noticed this with higher temperatures – not terribly higher but certainly noticeable.

Our first full day in the backcountry had us departing Johnson Creek early and arriving at Big Creek a few minutes later. The Big Creek lodge is now in full operation (again, after a fire destroyed it some years ago) and is a sight to behold.

The breakfast at the Big Creek Lodge was good and we were soon on our way down the Big Creek drainage.

The last time we landed at the Upper Loon airstrip, it was an in and out. This time we decided to do a bit of hiking. Landing there was uneventful though one does have to watch out for the big huge walls of granite and the rising terrain that is off the approach end of the airstrip.

After departing Upper Loon and flying by that big chunk of granite, we were on our way to Thomas Creek. This airstrip is always interesting due to the approach over the creek and the hike to the hot springs. The hike is about four miles round trip. It isn’t terribly strenuous but there are a few mildly challenging little bits. The sights along the river are fantastic! We spent an hour or two enjoying the hot springs and then were on our way back.

Notice how clear that water is – Spectacular! It is also icy cold which felt REALLY great!!

I was in need of fuel so I hustled over to Cascade, ID to top off and find a hamburger.

The second full day, we decided to go a bit further north and visit a few airstrips in that area. Another early departure had us flying over Big Creek and arriving at Cold Meadows while it was still cool. We had not previously landed at Cold Meadows so it took a little while to get comfortable with the area and condition of the airstrip. I was picked to land first and found the airstrip to be in very good condition.

We took a short hike just to explore the airstrip and fell in love!

Our big goal for the day was Chamberlain Basin airstrip so we were soon on our way. After an uneventful landing there, we were hiking north towards Stonebraker Ranch. Apparently, this little ranch has become a Forest Service project and is a very neat place. Nobody was there when we arrived so we had to settle for looking thru the windows. Founded in 1889 (if I recall correctly), I can easily see why someone would settle there. Of course, I have to ignore the notion of “winter” when saying that!!

It was eventually time to head for base camp so off we went – exploring and enjoying the sights as usual.

Wednesday morning arrived quickly and we planned to depart early to avoid potential afternoon thunderstorm build-up. Our 0530 target departure time came and went without enough daylight to see the big rocks that surrounded us. So, closer to 0600, we were airborne out of Johnson Creek. We followed the drainages south to Stanley then Smiley Creek and finally stopped at Gooding, ID for fuel.

The fuel stop gave me the opportunity to switch from climb to cruise pitch on my Sensenich GA prop. That went very quickly and we soon moving again. We were again blessed with a high overcast and very favorable temperatures.

South along the eastern side of the Wasatch mountains to Price, UT.

Another quick stop at Price, UT for fuel and we were soon over hot Utah. Flying at 11,500′ helped with the temperature but nothing could be done about the turbulence. It was fairly uncomfortable but we quickly made it back to Mid Valley none the worse for wear.