July 2002

July was filled with outdoor activities. Air shows and flying endorsements topped the list, with a nice day hike and overnight camping trip thrown in for fun.

July 4

Deciding what to do on the fourth is always a challenge. This year, we decided to go to the Freedom Fair in Tacoma, Washington. The ad mentioned free transportation from the bus stop, so we drove to the bus stop and waited for the free bus to come by. Actually, there was no wait at all; the bus was already there and a long line of people were waiting. The bus took us through downtown, then along the waterfront to the town of Ruston.

We got off the bus and walked a block to the edge of the fair. The fair stretched for about a half mile along the waterfront and featured many food concessions and booths selling arts and crafts. We saw a pair of jugglers entertaining the kids, a couple bands playing for the older crowd, and the usual local fire and law official's displays. In the parking lot of one restaurant was a classic car display. We bought something to eat, walked down to the water's edge, and watched the air show.

The weather was less than perfect and Susan didn't feel well, so we headed back up the hill to the bus stop. When we arrived at the bus stop, we found a line waiting for the next bus, which was just pulling up. In our rush to get on we didn't realize that across the street was another bus stop - and it was heading in the direction we wanted to go. This bus was not heading back to the same bus stop. We ended up miles away from where we wanted to be. We told the driver our sad story and she called up headquarters and they gave her the OK to drive us back across town. There we were, just Susan and I, alone in this big bus. The driver was very friendly and we talked the whole way back and had a nice chat.

July 13

Before the house was painted this summer (see June 11, 2002), our painter, Dan, power-washed our house to knock off the years of grime and mildew that had built up, thanks to our damp climate. In the process, the windows were left covered with residue. Having a beautiful, clean house with dirty windows just wouldn't do. Susan put together a cleaning concoction of water and corn starch and I grabbed the ladder from the shed and headed for the front corner window. Susan cleaned the windows and I rinsed them with the garden hose. We continued from window to window until we worked our way all the way around the house. While cleaning the bedroom windows, I noticed some odd streaking below the living room windows that we had just finished cleaning. On closer inspection, we determined that the streaks were coming from the run-off from the windows. The thought of repainting under all the windows put me into a momentary state of shock. We tried to clean the streaks, but they wouldn't come off. The harder we tried, the more streaks we created. Finally, to our relief, we realized that the streaking was just from the water and that when dry, the streaks vanished.

July 14

Today we made our nearly yearly trek to Arlington, Washington to attend the Northwest Experimental Aircraft Association Air Show and fly-in. I say nearly yearly because for a few summers in a row, the air show fell on the same weekend as our vacation, so we were out of town. In the past, big name air show performers have entertained the crowds, both in the air and on the ground. The most famous performer/pilot I saw was test pilot Bob Hoover. His flying career began back in World War II, where he flew P-51 Mustangs with Chuck Yeager.

This year, we planned to meet Todd & Danielle and watch the air show. On the way up I-5, I noticed a truck up ahead the looked very familiar. As I pulled along side to pass, sure enough, it was Todd & Danielle! Wow, what amazing timing. With luck like that, you'd think it would be easy to meet up and enter the grounds together, but somehow that was not the case. We stopped to grab some cash from the ATM but they continued on to the airport. We drove over a few minutes later, parked, and walked to the entrance. They were nowhere to be seen. We called their cell phone, but got the messaging service. After awhile we decided to just go in and look for them along the flight line.

Along the way, we stopped and bought some typical air show junk food and looked at the vendor exhibits. One of my favorites was the Cirrus Design truck with a full size mock up of the SR-22 inside. Being a Sunday afternoon, they were preparing to leave, so they hurried us through and out the other side. Needless to say, I didn't buy a new airplane while I was there.

The air show was about to start, so we walked to the flight line and found a nice spot on the grass to set up camp. We spread out our blanket, set up our camping chairs, pulled out the binoculars and sunscreen, and waited for the show to begin. Every few minutes, we scanned the crowd in hopes of spotting Todd or Danielle. Eventually we did and waved for them to join us. The show began and we watched in amazement as the performers did impossible and impractical maneuvers in their airplanes.

After the show, we walked the flight line and enjoyed a close-up look at all the old and new aircraft on display. One that caught my eye was the old B-25 "Super Rabbit". The "Super Rabbit" was featured in the July 2002 edition of AOPA Pilot magazine, so seeing it in person after just reading about it was a nice treat.

excerpt from AOPA Pilot, July 2002

Super Rabbit, a reference to Bugs Bunny, is a North American TB–25J Mitchell Bomber that began life in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1945 as an orphan — it never went to war, it went to storage. Nobody wanted it. After that, its life improved little. Sold to foster parents in Venezuela, it was finally left to rot in La Paz, Bolivia.

Time can be a friend as well as an enemy. As the years passed, enthusiasm grew for the restoration and preservation of warbirds. The twin-engine bomber was found and given enough attention to fly it home to the United States. In 1987 it returned to American airspace, but could fly no farther. Near Cocoa Beach, Florida, an engine quit; 10 minutes later the second engine failed. Out of engines and options, the bomber safely belly-landed in a swamp and finished its journey to a Florida airport on a truck.

The rough times weren't over. After extensive repairs, the aircraft made its way to California where the present owner, Jim Morgan of Salem, fell in love with it. During the flight to Oregon, Super Rabbit proved it still had one violent burst of bad luck left to exorcise. Near Fresno, California, the left engine erupted in flames that threatened to burn off the wing. The pilots that day were Jeff Wright and Wayne Cartwright, two of several pilots still flying it for Morgan. But that was the day the bomber's luck changed: Cartwright and Wright got the engine shut down and the fire out. After extensive repairs and restoration, the aircraft is flying the airshow circuit today.

We were all hungry, so we decided to meet up again for dinner. We got to choose, since we were more familiar with the area. We decided to go to the Everett waterfront and watch the sunset over the Puget Sound. The hostess showed us to a table on the deck. Since Todd & Danielle had recently "tied the knot", we picked up the check. After dinner we walked along the waterfront and found a little shop that sold ice cream. By this time I could already feel the first sign of sunburn on my forehead. We had sunscreen at the air show, but I hadn't bothered to apply any, so I had to pay the price.

July 17

One of my all-time favorite classic rock bands was on tour and chose Seattle as the first stop on their tour. The band Yes was playing at the Paramount Theater in Seattle and we had tickets. I bought the tickets online an hour after they went on sale and was counting down the days to the concert. The day finally arrived and we drove to the city early to eat dinner before the show.

With great anticipation, we entered the theater as soon as the doors opened and waited for the show to begin. The band took the stage and gave us a nice show. The sound was great, the singing was perfect, the lights were mesmerizing. But in the end, I have to say that I was completely disappointed. I vowed that I would never spend that much money on a concert again. Why was I so disappointed? In the two hours they performed, they played only two songs that I've ever heard, and one of them was the encore. I had considered myself a pretty good Yes fan, but I guess I was wrong. Even so, I think they should have at least played a few of their biggest hits.

July 19

One of the motivations for a pilot is the challenge of learning to fly bigger and better aircraft. In all my years of flying, I had only flown four different types of airplanes: Cessna 150, 152, 172, and Piper Cherokee. All of them are simple training aircraft. The next rung on the Cessna ladder is the 182. It is considered a high performance aircraft and the FAA requires a special endorsement in the pilot's logbook to fly it. A high performance aircraft is any plane with an engine of greater than 200 hp.

I was planning a big flight to central Oregon and I wanted to fly the 182. I signed up for a checkout flight with an instructor at Galvin Flying Services on Boeing Field and today was the day to take the next step. When I signed up for the plane, I picked up the required open book aircraft knowledge form that is required to fly any Galvin airplane. I also bought an Operator's Manual for the Cessna 182 to help with the questions and to study the aircraft systems before my checkout. The checkout began with a discussion of the various aircraft systems. The majority of the talk involved a thorough explanation of the inner workings of the constant speed propeller. The rest of the 182 is very similar to a 172, so there wasn't anything new to discuss.

The checkout flight came next. The flight involved all the usual maneuvers; slow flight, stalls, steep turns, and touch-and-go's. The maneuvers felt very similar to those of a 172, but doing T&G's in the 182 is much more challenging. The plane is considerably heavier and therefore requires more force on the control surfaces. It is also considerably faster, so you must be prepared to slow down before entering the traffic pattern else you will carry too much speed and float half way down the runway instead of landing on the numbers. Then there are the cowl flaps to keep in mind. These are openings in the engine cowling that are controlled from within the airplane. They must be opened during takeoff and closed during approach. And the trim settings must be adjusted while on the ground else the plane will quickly climb and approach a stall situation on takeoff. I've heard that it takes 60 pounds of force to push the yoke forward if the trim is not set properly on takeoff. That's quite a lot of important things for a guy to remember.

After many T&G's at Tacoma Narrows airport, we flew north and I learned how to use the autopilot to control the airplane. Yes, you read that correctly - this plane has autopilot. The autopilot can control all three axes of rotation, so the pilot can sit back and enjoy the scenery, or more likely, prepare for the next phase of the flight, look out for other traffic, and talk to air traffic control.

After two hours of tooling around over the Puget Sound region, we returned to Boeing Field and parked the airplane. My instructor was sufficiently impressed and I was sufficiently wore out. We went inside and he endorsed my logbook for high performance aircraft. Be on the lookout for future articles involving the Cessna 182.

July 20

Todd & Danielle had planned a camping trip with a hike to Stuart Lake and they invited us along. They left after work on Friday afternoon to set up camp. They wanted to start hiking pretty early the next morning, so we had to meet them before they left the campground.

We woke up early, gathered our gear, and loaded the Honda. Our destination was the Upper Johnny Creek campground outside Leavenworth, Washington. We left Bothell and headed east to Highway 2, then followed that across Stevens Pass to Leavenworth. Once in town, we stopped at the Forest Service office to buy our park pass. They only accept cash, so we went for a walk through town to the nearest ATM. With cash in hand, we returned and bought an annual pass. We called Todd to let him know we were in town and to see if he needed any supplies, then we crossed the road to buy some groceries and snacks for the hike. With pass and food, we were set for our 24 hour forest adventure.

We headed out of town on the Icicle Creek Canyon road that wound its way up a long, slender valley that clearly showed the signs of recent forest fire activity. About twelve miles in, we reached the Upper Johnny Creek campground. We found Todd & Danielle's lot and began to unpack our stuff. Danielle greeted us with, "Look, clean people." We finished getting organized, then piled into the Honda and drove to the trailhead of the Stuart Lake trail.

View Larger Map

The trailhead is at 3,500 feet above sea level, and the elevation rises to 5,100 feet at the lake. The trail is relatively flat for the first mile or so, then begins to climb steeply. Along the way, we crossed a stream on a nice wooden bridge. At each resting point, we were swarmed by small flying creatures of unknown type, so it was in our best interest to keep moving. Eventually we left the forest and entered a marshy meadow that offered a fantastic view of the distant mountain peaks. At the end of the meadow, the trail began to climb again. At this point we were all ready for the lake to come into view.

At the top of the rise, the lake came into view. We continued down the trail to the edge of the crystal clear water and dropped our backpacks and enjoyed the splendid scenery. We ate lunch, then I went off alone in search of the perfect picture. We hung out on the large rocks beside the lake for what seemed like a couple hours, then decided to start back before it got too late.

The hike back was much easier, since it was all down hill. Susan led the way, and seemed to be in quite a rush. I was able to keep up, but Todd & Danielle fell behind. We stopped to wait a few times, but then decided to just carry on without them and join up at the trailhead. When we finally arrived at the trailhead, the reason for Susan's pace became apparent, as she dashed for the outhouse.

Up until this hike, we felt the most beautiful spot on Earth was the mountains outside Banff, in Alberta, Canada. We were pleasantly surprised to find this gorgeous location right in our own back yard.

We all lumbered back into the Honda and drove back to the campground. We were all tired, hungry, and most definitely sweaty. The first task was to find a way to get clean - or at least cleaner. The girls pulled out the Wet-Wipes, but Todd and I weren't interested. We grabbed the soap and towels, jumped back in the Honda, and headed upstream until we found a bridge across the river. We parked and walked down the bank to the waters edge. We slowly walked into the water and our feet immediately began to ache from the chill of the mountain stream. I thought I'd never be able to wash myself in that cold water. Considering the alternative, I walked out to knee level and washed my lower half. That wasn't so bad. Then I started splashing water on my chest and I just about fell over from the shock of it. Whoa, that will surely take your breath away. I quickly washed my upper half and headed for the safety and warmth of dry land. We dried off as quickly as possible, being careful not to fall off balance into the river. Back at camp, Todd cooked dinner and we sat around the campfire and stared at the stars. What a beautiful day it had been.

July 21

On the way home from Leavenworth, we crossed Stevens Pass on Highway 2. As you cross the pass and drive down the west slope, you can see a long covered railroad bed on the opposite side of the valley. I've always been interested in seeing them up close. There was a documentary made about an incident that occurred along those tracks years ago, and I wanted to see it up close. Susan was interested too, so we took a right turn of the highway onto Old Stevens Pass Highway and started back up the pass. The road took us along the railroad tracks and past the modern tunnel entrance. We followed the road for about a mile and a half before we came to a section that was apparently washed out at one time. The highway crew replaced the bridge with a narrow walking bridge, for some reason, so we were at a dead end. Not knowing how far we might have to walk, we decided to try to find the other end of the road at the top of the pass.

We turned around and drove up the pass again on Highway 2. At the top we found a somewhat hidden road to the left and turned onto it. Sure enough, it was the old highway. We followed it for about two and a half miles when we saw a very small sign pointing down a narrow gravel road. We figured that the sign must be there for a reason, so we followed it. Within a minute we arrived in a nicely maintained park-like setting. We stopped and read the sign and realized that we were now standing in what was once Wellington, Washington. Looking around we saw no sign that there was once a town at this location. How could a whole town just disappear?

excerpt from The Iron Goat Trail Home Page

The story of the Iron Goat began over 100 years ago when the last spike of the Great Northern Railway was driven, completing one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the nineteenth century. It marked the crossing of the Cascades at Stevens Pass which helped open the Pacific Northwest to settlement and trade with the rest of the world. This feat was recognized by establishment of the Stevens Pass Historic District in 1976.

The Great Northern route was the best engineered of the transcontinental railways. The original route over the pass consisted of an intricate set of switchbacks cut into the mountainside. While the switchbacks were an engineering triumph, they had serious disadvantages.

The Cascade Tunnel, completed in 1900, bypassed the switchbacks. Several snowsheds were also added for safety, but winter conditions still presented serious hazards. Trains were often stopped for days in winter storms.

In 1910, snowslides delayed two trains at the town of Wellington. A vast section of snow on Windy Mountain broke loose and crashed down, sweeping both trains off the tracks into Tye Creek below. Rescue efforts were quickly organized, but nearly one hundred lives were lost.

Wellington was the site of one of the worst railroad disasters in the nation's history and also the most tragic snow avalanche. This prompted more improvements to avoid such tragedy striking again. As rail traffic increased, a "new" Cascade Tunnel was completed in 1929. This eight-mile tunnel is still in use today by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The opening of the new tunnel made the old grade obsolete and it was abandoned completely. It is this abandoned stretch that comprises the Iron Goat Trail today.

We followed the trail west and soon came to the opening of the Cascade Tunnel. We then turned around and followed the trail east and soon arrived at the first at the first showshed. We followed the rail bed for another quarter mile when we came to a lookout point, overlooking the Tye Creek below. It is very chilling to think that on this spot, many passengers lost their lives to a killer avalanche nearly a century ago.