Day Five – Yosemite National Park and the Mono Lake mirror
Since we landed in Mammoth, California on Day 4 it’s been paradise. Great airport, world famous natural hot springs, and great food. Two local students were recruited the evening of Day 4 – Alona, our waitress, and Sara the bartender. The deal was, if they showed up at six AM in the morning, they could go up for a lesson. Amazingly, their smiling faces were enthusiastically at the airport around sunrise. This significantly changed the dynamics for each of our flights that day.
A cold north wind was blowing about 10 knots. This was identical wind to the day before. At the 7,128 foot airport, the brilliant morning sun lit the towering snow capped mountains . Crisp air and a beautiful deep blue sky hinted an unstable day, but not a cloud was in site.
After the introductions and some theatrics we planned our flight with the local students. Fly to Mammoth Mountain ski area, and than back to the airport rather than fly up to the next airport and drop them off at Lee Vining with no way to get back.
The air was smooth until we got near the mountain. We circled up and approached Mammoth Mountain Ski Area over the spine to minimize turbulence. In back of Mammoth Mountain, looked like Switzerland, with desolate snow covered mountain peaks. Since it was so beautiful, nobody wanted to go back to the airport and th flight went on for longer than anticipated.
Finally, we landed, dropped off the locals, gassed up, and took off. We were now about 2 hours behind our normal schedule and I could see some cumulus clouds forming far ahead where we were going. This was a sign of things to come. It was only ten o’clock in the morning.
A long climb out of mammoth past June Lake brought us over Yosemite National Park, with a distant view of the Yosemite valley. We were flying up the side of Sierras that was thrust up creating vertical peaks. The combination of unstable air and ruggid mountains produced definite bumps. We climbed over the 13,000 peaks topping out at 15,000 feet, our highest altitude for the trip.
The long descent through the rough air over Tioga Pass canyon was tiring. After the long flight, high altitude, and turbulence, we were anxious to land. We were beat and needed a rest. It was high noon and it was rough all the way in to Lee Vining airport. We had one more leg planned to get to Bridgeport.
A quick gas up provided adequate breather as we continued our odyssey north. The plan was to swing east by Mono Lake and head north to Bridgeport. As we climbed out of Lee Vining airport, Mono Lake was totally calm, producing a mirror below. The cumulus clouds were just as vivid reflecting off the lake, as they were in the sky.
This calmness drew us to the middle of the lake and the big island. Once we powered back and started descending, the lake vanished into a void of cloud reflections and blue sky.
We could not see the level of the lake and it blended totally with the sky. I realized we had no visual reference with the ground below us.
That warning bell went off as I thought about the Bermuda Triangle stories where pilots loose tract of the horizon line and fly into the ocean. The seduction of Mono Lake beauty and the curious nature of the pilots needed to be broken. I radioed, to stop descending and head to the island to start our journey north.
Looking north, we noticed medium cumulus clouds. It was still early and the clouds ahead were building. After some discussion on the radio Gerry suggested we go for it and fly the cloud base.
We all knew it was going to get nasty. How nasty it would get was the question. I could see a thunderstorm building in the direction we were going. The 3 Hawaiian flyers wanted to find the ghost town Bodie, so they headed more east, about forty five degrees away from the airport heading. I was concerned about the building clouds and set my GPS way point for the Bridgeport airport and headed directly there.
The air was bumpy coming in, but not severe or uncontrollable. I immediately landed, and dropped the wing at the tie downs. A rain shower with virga was not more than 5 miles away, I was happy to have landed and safely tied down. No sign of the Hawaiian flyers who insisted on the detour.
Within 10 minutes, radio calls broke the silence asking the conditions at the airport. I reported that there were currently no gust fronts with no prevailing wind. With the high turbulence, it was interesting to watch all the experienced pilots blast into the airport runway with significant speed and throttle. We avoided the wind and rain. Another day of adventure and great flying with friends.
We hit the only bar/restaurant in Bridgeport. Over lunch we found out the location of another hot springs to wash away the cold and rough air. Day 5 ended with a great flying and hot springs, just like the day before.
Go to Day Six – Students get their longest flights and landing back in time.