From Mountains to Desert

Today we woke early and departed. We climbed into the air over Salida as the sun climbed into the sky in the east. It painted the mountains in a surreal light and filled the world below in a holy glow. Little did I know that this breathtaking beauty was just the beginning of a day almost beyond description.

We flew west over the mountains and ATC had us climb to 17,000 feet. We flew out over the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and then turned south to begin the approach to Telluride. Telluride airport is located on a mesa that has a 1'500 cliff and it has mountains around every side. As we approached the end of the runway the cliff just dropped away into the valley below us. Stunning. We headed into town for some great breakfast and there were hundreds of prairie dogs along the side of the road scurrying all around. We departed Telluride and headed southeast VFR.

The terrain as you head west from the rockies quickly becomes high desert. As we flew on, the scrub below started to fade away and the reds, yellows, blacks, purples of the landscape swept from here to there from horizon to horizon stunning us into statements pretty much beginning and ending with, "Wow". We flew north of the Four Corners area were I meet Amy 14 years ago. Very cool. Then we headed over to Monument Valley. My God. Those red rocky spires sticking up into the heaves had up turning the plane this way and that way so that we could see them from every angle. We turned west and flew over to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Jaw dropping. I have included a photo from this portion of the trip because seeing the deep azure waters creeping through the red rock canyons is beyond description. Finally we turned to the north and prepared for our arrival at Bryce Canyon.

This little airport is about as neat and tidy as any that I have yet seen. We landed, called a hotel and they sent a van out to pick us up. As we hoped in the van to head to the hotel Jerry says to me, "So why are we staying here in Bryce Canyon?" I was like, "What?!" I told him how it was his idea to stay there when we were making our plan. He seems to remember it differently. Go figure! We almost had the driver turn around and take us back to the plane so that we could fly on to Sedona, AZ but instead decided that we were to beat and hungry so we headed on into town. We had a nice meal and both of us took it easy. Then as evening rolled around tonight Jerry and I walked up a dark (mostly unused)road into the woods and laid down on the still warm asphalt to look up at the stars. It was beautiful and serene.

Tomorrow over the Grand Canyon (Whoa!!:) and then into Sedona. My mom is coming up for dinner and staying the night. I can't wait to see her! Till then...