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I believe some of the Tahoe ski-resorts were still operating as late as a few weeks ago.

A huge mining operation.

I stopped at Wells to get gas -- which was the lowest for the entire trip -- and to stretch my legs. Not much in the way of facilities, but Wells does have the essentials: self service fuel & restroom. A local pilot offered me a ride into town but I was going a long way today and couldn't spare the time.

Over the Great Salt Lake.

The red arrow points to the famous site where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific linked up. There is a visitor's center but no nearby airsport so No Can Do on that one, Kimosabe.

The trail is running from top left to bottom right.

Flying through South Pass, the snow-covered Rockies in the distance to the north.

The trail crosses a little river bed.

I made it through South Pass and am now flying parallel to the Sweetwater River.

I'd greatly enjoyed flying the Oregon Trail again, but I'd seen enough, and it was time to take a more direct route east towards my goal of Red Oak, Iowa.

I turned east and soon came across this scenic reservoir and canyon.

Approaching Guensey Airport -- upper left corner. The Oregon Trail came right through here. There are two places worth seeing -- Guernsey Ruts and Register rcok -- if you have the time.

There is the tower I was telling you about. The Army flys helicopters out of his airport. There is also a bombing range to the northwest.

No mistaking these ruts. If you have stayed with this web log from the beginning, by now you have probably developed a fairly good eye for ruts yourself!

I landed at Columbus, which was a good size airport, but it was deserted. The FBO building was locked. A sign gave directions to a restroom that was supposed to be unlocked but of course it was locked. I couldn't even see a way to get outside of the chainlink fence that prevented entry, or exit, to the ramp area! So this airport was not a good stop for the night. I have said many times that an airport ought to have a little area for transient pilots that is unlocked 24x7, with a restroom with phone numbers to recommended motels, restaurants and taxi service. That's not much to ask, is it?

At Guernsey, I had called Red Oak and talked with the airport manager who graciously said he would make sure the courtesy car would be available, where to find the keys, and even gave me directions to a Super8 motel. So I wanted to get to Red Oak where I knew I had a car and a place to stay. I checked the weather on my GPS and Omaha was now clear of thunderstorms so I decided to continue on.

Omaha is on the Missouri River and it had definately had flooded over the banks.

I passed Omaha airport to the north -- you can see the runway left of center. From here, it was a quick easy shot to Red Oak. It had just stopped raining when I arrived. Unlike Columbus, there were actually people at this airport as the Civil Air Patrol squadron was just finishing up a meeting. The car and keys were just where the airport manager had said, and after putting the RV to bed, I was soon on my way to the Super8. It had been a long day. I was so tired, I didn't even go out to dinner, but just ate some snacks I had with me.

July 5, 2011 - Sacramento to Iowa
I departed Sacramento early on Tuesday morning for the long flight back to Maryland. My plan was to do it in two days with no sightseeing. I'd be heading pretty much due east following Interstate 80. The first day I was hoping to make it to Red Oak, Iowa and then on to Maryland the second day. This flight would be very similar to what I did five years ago in the Citabria, only in two days instead of four. My parents drove me to the airport early in the morning, I fueled the plane up and then I was off. I started climbing immediately to get high enough to make it over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Five years ago I could hardly see straight ahead because of the bright sun, but it wasn't as bad this time. I crossed the Sierras at 11,500 feet and had this nice view of the still snow-covered mountains. They had a lot of snow this year, as you can see.

I believe some of the Tahoe ski-resorts were still operating as late as a few weeks ago.

Looking down at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe where we vacationed a few years ago. The family hiked down the steep path to Vikingsholm Castle and then back up in an arduous trek uphill in the hot sun that will go down in family history!

South Lake Tahoe.

Carson City, where the big silver mine and the "Mother Lode" was mined from1860 - 1890. Now it is a interesting tourist destination with old fashioned saloons and tours. I flew a glider over this area a couple of years ago -- operating out of Minden -- but the air was so hazy from forest fire smoke you couldn't see very well.

Carson Salt Flats which fall under restricted air space.

Some snow still remains on one of the Nevada ridges. In the Citabria I had flown alongside I-80 at 1000 feet but on this trip, with the higher performance RV, I flew higher and cut some corners.

A huge mining operation.

The town of Wells, with the airport in the distance.

I stopped at Wells to get gas -- which was the lowest for the entire trip -- and to stretch my legs. Not much in the way of facilities, but Wells does have the essentials: self service fuel & restroom. A local pilot offered me a ride into town but I was going a long way today and couldn't spare the time.

I left I-80 at Wells and headed due cross the north part of the Great Salt Lake and avoid the Salt Lake City Class B airspace to the north. Five years ago it had been a pain to get around it at low-level to the south. But first there was the Bonneville Salt Flats which must be flown at low level!

Yep, it's flat all-right.

I climbed when the flats ended to have a little altitude over the lake.

Over the Great Salt Lake.

But my main purpose in flying across the north part of the lake was to fly over Promentory Point -- where the Transcontinental Railroad was connected back in 1976. It wasn't too hard to find from the air. This area is fairly undeveloped. The railroads no longer come this way but you can still see the original route below.

The red arrow points to the famous site where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific linked up. There is a visitor's center but no nearby airsport so No Can Do on that one, Kimosabe.

To the East were the Wasaatch Mountains. About this time I started getting rained on. I flew through rain for about 30 minutes or so.

I continued east until reaching Fort Bridger airport. Five years ago when flying the Oregon Trail I had not flown the section of the trail that runs from South Pass to Fort Bridger. So I decided to do it on this trip. Just a little past Bridger airport I turned northeast and got on the trail.

It was kind of fun to be looking for ruts again. I had my chart from five years ago with the Oregon Trail route marked on it.

The trail is running from top left to bottom right.

Flying through South Pass, the snow-covered Rockies in the distance to the north.

Looking to the south while flying through South Pass.

It was pretty easy to follow the trail in some places! Five years ago while flying through South Pass, I never saw any ruts. But I nailed it today and followed the trail the entire way through.

The trail crosses a little river bed.

The trail runs straight as an arrow across the high desert.

I made it through South Pass and am now flying parallel to the Sweetwater River.

This big rock mountain was a landmark on the Oregon Trail called Split Rock. I was trying to figure out why they called it Split Rock. I finally realized it is because of a big vertical fracture in the rock -- parallel and to the left of the yellow line. Yeah, Split Rock. Makes sense.

After Split Rock, the trail makes a left to the north towards Independance Rock and Casper, Wyoming. The blue arrow points to Independance Rock. You can see ruts between the yellow lines.

A good look at Independance Rock -- one of the most famous landmarks on the Oregon Trail -- and highly visible ruts leading from Independance Rock to the top of the picture.

I'd greatly enjoyed flying the Oregon Trail again, but I'd seen enough, and it was time to take a more direct route east towards my goal of Red Oak, Iowa. I turned east and soon came across this scenic reservoir and canyon.

My plan was to stop at Guernsey for fuel. Just prior to Guernsey was this pretty canyon.

Approaching Guensey Airport -- upper left corner. The Oregon Trail came right through here. There are two places worth seeing -- Guernsey Ruts and Register rcok -- if you have the time.

I announced I was five miles out on Unicom and someone started talking to me like a Tower. So I did what they said. Why not?

The Guernsey FBO building. I borrowed the courtsey car for a quick run into town for lunch.

There is the tower I was telling you about. The Army flys helicopters out of his airport. There is also a bombing range to the northwest.

I saw ruts just to the south of the airport after takeoff. (above the horizontal yellow line)

No mistaking these ruts. If you have stayed with this web log from the beginning, by now you have probably developed a fairly good eye for ruts yourself!

A little ways further east, I flew over Fort Laramie, which I had visited five years ago, but not gotten an aerial picture of. A nice stop, if you ever are in the area.

I wasn't really flying the trail, but I was flying parallel to it. Here is Scotts Bluff and the North Platte River. I wanted to check out Chimney Rock, but I realized after Guernsey that I was running out of time. I sitll had 500 miles to go to get to Red Oak, Iowa and it was already late afternoon. No Chimney Rock this trip.

Now that I'm getting into the Midwest, weather started making an appearance. This is where having XM Satellite weather on my GPS paid for itself. I could see convective activity -light green and dark green (rain) and yellow and red (thunderstorms) -- on my moving map ahead of me and alter my course accordingly. Unfortunately, there was a lot of yellow and red right where I wanted to go: the Council Bluffs/Omaha area and Red Oak just to the east of it. I continued towards it hoping that it would blow away from the area, but it kept hanging around. On my GPS, Red Oak was just showing light rain, but Omaha was experiencing a thunrderstorm. As I got closer I could actually see the weather ahead -- dark and ominous. Even though it was already about 6PM, I decided to land at an airport and take a break to review the situation. The airport - Columbus - looked good according to the AOPA directory with a courtesy car. Maybe I could just stay there even though it was short of my goal.

I landed at Columbus, which was a good size airport, but it was deserted. The FBO building was locked. A sign gave directions to a restroom that was supposed to be unlocked but of course it was locked. I couldn't even see a way to get outside of the chainlink fence that prevented entry, or exit, to the ramp area! So this airport was not a good stop for the night. I have said many times that an airport ought to have a little area for transient pilots that is unlocked 24x7, with a restroom with phone numbers to recommended motels, restaurants and taxi service. That's not much to ask, is it? At Guernsey, I had called Red Oak and talked with the airport manager who graciously said he would make sure the courtesy car would be available, where to find the keys, and even gave me directions to a Super8 motel. So I wanted to get to Red Oak where I knew I had a car and a place to stay. I checked the weather on my GPS and Omaha was now clear of thunderstorms so I decided to continue on. Omaha is on the Missouri River and it had definately had flooded over the banks.

Looking south where the storms had moved.

I passed Omaha airport to the north -- you can see the runway left of center. From here, it was a quick easy shot to Red Oak. It had just stopped raining when I arrived. Unlike Columbus, there were actually people at this airport as the Civil Air Patrol squadron was just finishing up a meeting. The car and keys were just where the airport manager had said, and after putting the RV to bed, I was soon on my way to the Super8. It had been a long day. I was so tired, I didn't even go out to dinner, but just ate some snacks I had with me.

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July 5, 2011 - Sacramento to Iowa