The August issue of AOPA PILOT had a wonderful article about a flight in a Waco bigplane from Canyonlands (KCNY) to Cal Black Meml. (U96) (http://www.aopa.org/...rial_miles.html). I had to redo this one! The Waco is by Lynn and Bill Lyons here from the library. The scenery is BlueSkyScenery, of course from http://www.blueskyscenery.com. Departing Canyonlands Airport (KCNY) just before sunrise on a cold November morning: First morning light on the cliffs of the Moab Fault. Hopefully it will warm up a bit soon! Passing Arches National Park (left) at sunrise and well before the crowd arrives: Passing the old uranium mill waste pond just north of Moab. During the cold war, Moab became the so called "Uranium Capital of the World". Today there is a project going on to remove that waste that will take until 2025 and cost $1 billion. Moab is a mecca for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers and four-wheelers looking for adventure. But at this time of the day it is still mostly asleep. I hope, we dont wake them with our powerful 300hp Jacobs engine. South of Moab we meet our chase plane for the day: A little south along the Colorado River, the huge evaporation ponds of the Intrepid Potash mine come into sight.River water is pumped into the mine and dissolves the potash, after which the brine solution is pumped to solar evaporation ponds. If electric power were used to evaporate the brine instead, it would require burning 400,000 tons of coal each year! Next we're heading a little south into the Needles Section of Canyonlands National Park. Here uplifts and later slides created a system of perpendicular cracks. Then he resulting crosshatched pattern of "joints" widened by erosion until only thin fins and needles of rock remained. On our way to the north we pass "The Loop": to be continued ...

Nice shots... I hope to hike in those someday...

Nice shots... I hope to hike in those someday...

Great shots and indeed that would be fun Jeff :-)

Nice to see some Bakewell Tart growing naturally in the wilderness....always though it was made by Mr. Kipling http://www.google.co...Pxi7m5DA&zoom=1

Nice to see some Bakewell Tart growing naturally in the wilderness....always though it was made by Mr. Kipling

Yeah, I know that condition well. You need some carbohydrates. Real quick!

Nice shots... I hope to hike in those someday...

Do this! They have trails for everyone. Maybe not in the summer months, though. The second part of the trip is here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/346320-88-magical-miles-part-2/