I've noticed days during past bike, but, and hiking trips that there are days that just aren't photogenic. They don't offer astonishing scenery, great views, wonderful landscapes. So it was yesterday.
Bakersfield to Salinas CA.
Out of KBFL for the short flight. I've come to greatly enjoy low & slow flights. More to see, about as much to do as in some of the "big iron" flights.
On the other hand, you aren't going to escape the lesser scenery quite as fast. Oh well.
Haze out there too.
This and next two, about as good as it got the entire flight.
On the ground at KSNS Salinas. The great part of the flight was the (rare) perfect landing I made. Totally smooth and professional. Don't get used to it.
Not a lot of pics but here I'm climbing out of Tillamook, OR for a short flight to Portland.
I flew it at 5500' VFR. That cleared the local mountains.
I suppose you could say I'm VFR on top but I could always see land beneath me.
I'm starting my descent into KVUO, Pearson in Portland, although actually it's on the Vancouver side of the Columbia. I was busy with the landing and didn't take pictures...sorry.
I'm enjoying my low & slow California tour. Time to examine things and details, watch the traffic, check the mountains. My flights have become shorter. 150 miles is a good length. I can sit and watch the world pass. Yes, I usually run the cruise portion of the flight at 2X speed, but when your cruise speed is only 130 kts, that's still slower than a jet, or even a King Air, and I'm down there where I can see the details. It's like traveling on a bicycle but with less physical effort.
Hemet to Bakersfield.
Just off the ground at Hemet-Ryan Airport KHMT. I'll settle in at 8000 ft msl for about an hour and then drop into the San Joaquin Valley. Bakersfield is at the lower end of the valley but northeast of Los Angeles.
Dry river bed down there.
Although I'm more than high enough to satisfy the MSA requirement, having that pass down there adds a margin of safety. If I remember correctly, Bill C just brought that up too. Plus, in my slow Cessna I can maybe land on the Interstate if worse comes to worser.
Here we are, just over the pass and descending into the San Joaquin Valley. Yeah, one of the most productive farming areas of CA but with oil and other energy products as well.
Bakersfield is known as "Nashville West". Check out the music video below. IMHO better country music than today's "rock and roll with a hat".
On the ground at Bakersfield KBFL. I'll continue north and also a little west next flight, maybe.
Southern Cal is crowded, do doubt about it at all. If you think of "walls" as signs of human habitation and industrial expansion then SoCal has it (them) in spades. Walls. Wall to wall walls.
Short flight today. Only an hour or less from KSEE to Hemet CA KHMT, depending what ATC has in store for me.
Off the ground from Gillespie Airport, San Diego/El Cajon And already nothing but wall to wall walls.
There are few breaks in the scenery along the way. Just...walls.
Nearing Hemet now and yeah, there's some open country out there. What's interesting here is that as crowded as this part of California is, those little patches of wild land hide and harbor tremendous amounts of truly wild life.
Own a kitty or small (even fairly large) dog? Don't leave them out at night. Mountain lions own the night out there, even among all those walls. And yeah, you don't go out in the back yard without a flashlight and whistle either. Truly big cats see you as a food source too. And I don't mean those dog treats in your pocket.
Incidentally Bill C, Radar Contact tried to vector me into the hills around Hemet--those snow capped peaks in the shot above. Cancelled the flight plan and finished the flight VFR. You are not alone.
