Roughing it - Aviation style

david0tey

david0tey

Line Up and Wait
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Mar 2, 2012
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Virginia
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Fox-Three
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I've always wanted to explore the great outdoors in the western U.S. but am a novice camper to say the least. I was wondering if it is a realistic endeavor to take a week or so and fly out west in our 172 and rough it! I'm an east coaster so I really have no idea what i'd be getting myself into. But, the plan is to find some backcountry airstrips in the Idaho/Wyoming/Colorado/Utah and get in touch with my spiritual side. Obviously the high DA and high terrain are the biggest factors and would need some careful planning.

Has anybody ever done a trip like this before? I would ideally like to camp at some of the locations and hopefully find a room and a hot shower at some of the others. I'd also like to go in the fall, when its cool but before it gets brutally cold. This year isn't likely but hopefully next. Any locations that I should check out?

Would probably try to drag only one other person along with me, to allow room for the essentials in the back seat. (camping gear, clothes, food, etc)

This is something I've always wanted to do and would like to share the experience with other people. I figure if I plan far enough ahead I could convince some other crazies on here to join me. :rolleyes:
 
Sounds fun. Put an itinerary together and maybe some more of us might join you somewhere. I do have some buddies who regularly do the backwoods stuff, but most of them aren't suited for our nose-draggers.
 
Idaho and maybe Montana are doable in a 172. Utah is an option too.

September is about the latest for Montana. Utah, you might go in October but you could also get a storm in the northern part of the state. I haven't spent enough time in Idaho to know what happens weather wise. Bob Bement and a few other POAers are familiar with that part of the world.

Colorado doesn't have a lot of backcountry strips but it does have a few places on the western slope that allow camping.

Wyoming? Idunno, you could ask Ben if you could use his airstrip between Pinedale and Jackson Hole. If I were you I wouldn't ask about his sheep.

What sort of 172? I'm not real fond of the 150 or 160 hp around here (Colorado) but one would prolly be okay for the lower elevations of Idaho. Good (if perhaps overpriced) backcountry flight training available in McCall Idaho. Or be nice to Bob Bement and get him to teach you all you need to know.
 
david0tey said:
the plan is to find some backcountry airstrips in the Idaho/Wyoming/Colorado/Utah and get in touch with my spiritual side. Obviously the high DA and high terrain are the biggest factors and would need some careful planning.
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Sounds like fun! It also sounds like you need to link up with an experienced mountain CFI for a few lessons. This is more than reading up on it, hands-on is the safest way to learn this stuff.

Enjoy!
 
West Yellowstone, WY and Payson, AZ both have pilots campground.

Payson has a nice bathroom with showers. Enterprise will bring a vehicle out. Restaurant.

West Yellowstone is more rustic. Old propane shower sometimes works. Pit toilet. You can use the fire station for showers. Terminal also has bathrooms. Usually bikes around to get down the runway or even into town. Rental cars at the terminal too. Restaurant comes and goes.
 
Clark1961 said:
Idaho and maybe Montana are doable in a 172. Utah is an option too.

September is about the latest for Montana. Utah, you might go in October but you could also get a storm in the northern part of the state. I haven't spent enough time in Idaho to know what happens weather wise. Bob Bement and a few other POAers are familiar with that part of the world.

Colorado doesn't have a lot of backcountry strips but it does have a few places on the western slope that allow camping.

Wyoming? Idunno, you could ask Ben if you could use his airstrip between Pinedale and Jackson Hole. If I were you I wouldn't ask about his sheep.

What sort of 172? I'm not real fond of the 150 or 160 hp around here (Colorado) but one would prolly be okay for the lower elevations of Idaho. Good (if perhaps overpriced) backcountry flight training available in McCall Idaho. Or be nice to Bob Bement and get him to teach you all you need to know.
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Them are MY sheep... leave them alone...;):D..

A 172 will safely get into Johnson Creek Idaho.. Smooth as a golf course, hot showers, free firewood, free camping,free WiFi. Web cam..


http://www.ruralnetwork.net/~yellowpinecm/

... Hard to believe a place exists out in the middle of no where... Just pick a weekend or middle of the week when there is no fly ins...Smiley Creek Idaho, long strip, easy in and out, free camping, restaurant close by.

http://lb.511.idaho.gov/idlb/cameras/camera.jsf?id=78

There are others, but for a newbie you can get in and out without much problem...
 
1L7 Escalante UT has a nice campground with a cookshack and pilot lounge with internet and a shower. It also had fuel and a courtesy car! Lots of places in southern UT and northern AZ. Payson, Marble Canyon.. Check out backcountrypilot.org and adventurepilot.com
 
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Why don't you practice roughing it on the East coast. Then, when things go south, you don't have to walk home quite so far.
 
The one thing about back country camping with a 172 out west is you need to take altitude into account when considering what fields you can get out of due to poor mountain performance. Many of the good camping strips are kinda short and in the mountains. There are some good long ones though, so it's not a show stopper, you just have to do your research.
 
Try a few camping trips without the plane first. Learn what you need and what you can do without.

I learned camping by just going out and doing it, but then again I was born and raised in rural Texas.

Don't forget to bring snipe protection....
 
david0tey said:
I've always wanted to explore the great outdoors in the western U.S. but am a novice camper to say the least. I was wondering if it is a realistic endeavor to take a week or so and fly out west in our 172 and rough it! I'm an east coaster so I really have no idea what i'd be getting myself into. But, the plan is to find some backcountry airstrips in the Idaho/Wyoming/Colorado/Utah and get in touch with my spiritual side. Obviously the high DA and high terrain are the biggest factors and would need some careful planning.
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http://backcountrypilot.org

Tons of great people on there with a lot of experience in that kind of flying.

I've done the trip you propose twice in a 172 when I was still a renter. Once clockwise, once counter clockwise. There are lots of places you can get and out of. There will likely be places that you compromise and land somewhere with an FBO, rent a car, and head to a park and stay in a hotel. That's ok. No need to be religious on the airplane camping part if you would like to also hike Zion.

Be conservative.
Be light.
Be early (in the day).

Do not tie yourself to a schedule.

Could be the trip of a lifetime.
 
Just you alone, right? If so, very doable with gear. I'd be careful with another person(s), plus gear in a 172. Get some mountain flying training at the front end of your trip.
 
Anthony said:
Just you alone, right? If so, very doable with gear. I'd be careful with another person(s), plus gear in a 172. Get some mountain flying training at the front end of your trip.
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Yea, for two people and camping gear on a trip from Detroit to Fairbanks we needed every ounce of capability in a Cessna 120. (no "high altitude" airports though...)
 
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