July 3, 2019 - Day Eight - Nampa to Whidbey Island

So far on this trip, I've had freakishly good luck with the weather. But today my luck ran out. Although the weather was great in Boise, there was a coastal overcast in the Seattle area. The overcast was lower than the coastal mountains preventing airplanes from getting in from the east. At least, under visual flight rules, that is. And since I am not instrument-rated, that means me. We delayed taking off at Nampa until the afternoon when the coastal overcast was forecasted to clear.

Here we are crossing the Columbia River heading northwest back to the Seattle area.

We stopped at Prosser Airport to stretch our legs.

It's hard to tell from this picture but that object in the center of the picture is a helicopter with a large tank to carry extra fuel. We talked with the pilot who flew it. It turns out that he is a "Cherry Blower". You know how there is an indentation at the top of the cherry where the stem comes out? Well, when it rains that indentation fills with water and ruins the cherry. So right after it rains, the farmers hire helicopter pilots to fly low over the orchards and blow the water out with their rotors. They are literally on "five-minute standby" when rain is predicted. Who knew?

Approaching the Seattle area, we pass by Mount Rainer again. But there is the coastal overcast.

I knew it was solid overcast in the Seattle area so I couldn't go over the clouds. My only option was to go under and hope I could find a pass through the mountains.

Descending with the clouds off to the west.

I followed Keechelus Lake hoping that I could get through Snoqualmie Pass at the end. But no dice. So I made a 180 degree turn and headed back to an airport we had passed to land and wait a little.

Safe on deck at DeVere Airport (2W1) near Cle Alum. There are no facilities here and the runway was in poor shape, but it wasn't a bad place to stop.

There were a couple of hangars here.

Someone had taken the landing fee box.

As I said, the runway was in pretty bad shape.

There was a very nice Aeronca Sedan in one of the hangars.

Believe it or not, this was the view behind the hangar.

So we waited an hour, then took off and tried again. Snoqualmie Pass was still no go. Then I noticed on the chart that we had passed by another pass called Stampede Pass that went to the west. And I also noticed on the chart that it had its own ASOS radio frequency; in other words, an automatic weather reporting station with its own frequency. So I tuned it in and it was saying there was 200 ft clearance between the pass and the overcast layer. So I gave it a try and sure enough, it was as advertised. We scooted through, and then followed a descending valley through the mountains all the way to the Seattle area! A highwing plane even passed us going the other way on the opposite side of the valley.

Coming out of the mountains into the Seattle area. It's still overcast but the layer is plenty high enough for us to fly under.

Seattle in the distance as we head north towards Whidbey Island.

A closer look. What a difference a day makes.

Back at the house, Stan picked up his dog Fletcher from the Kennel. Nice dog.

More pictures of the yard around Stan's house.

Front of the house.

Two fawns at yard's edge.

Home