We're heading back across the mountains now, down at 9,500' because it's a beautiful smooth day and why suck bottled oxygen through my nose when I can breathe fresh, mountain air below ten thousand? It looks like this outside. Everywhere. The photo doesn't capture the shiny sparkles on the mountain peaks. I put on the autopilot and used both hands to take pictures as we went between these peaks. This isn't the Great Divide yet, still in British Columbia, but Vancouver Centre was trying to get a hold of us to transfer us to the next sector. They waited a little too long, or perhaps the altimeter setting was a little higher than usual, putting us a little closer to the rocks and further from line of sight to their antennae. They called me. I responded, but they couldn't hear me.
I so didn't care. I looked out the left side. I looked out the right side. I looked ahead (more spectacular peaks, but in all the pictures I took the morning sun highlighted the tiny scratches in the windshield so strongly that it stole the camera focus and that's all you see, with the peaks a mere background blur. Centre called another airplane (that company I went through groundschool for but ended up not working for) and asked them to relay a massage. It's not uncommon. The controller tells a pilot of an airplane at a higher altitude the callsign of and the message for the pilot they can't reach, and that pilot relays. You can also do it the other way around, as a pilot if you need to contact a controller but you are too low. When you hear another airplane making calls to that agency, you wait until their conversation is over and then ask them to pass your message. It's kind of fun. I accept the message, a frequency change from the relaying pilot, but don't take my eyes from the window to tune it until I'm through those peaks. It's not like Edmonton would have been able to receive my transmission at that altitude either.
Mountains: they are cold and cruel and can kill you quick, but oh so beautiful. In a few miles I called Edmonton Centre and then the knife-edged peaks gave way to the flat of the prairie. It happens startlingly quickly.
11 comments:
Your appreciation of the scenery is appreciated.
This is what I love best about flying. Snow covered mountains on a crisp, clear day, and VFR flight rules. Perfection.
Amazing sights - I know pics never really do justice to the vibrant scene the eye sees but thanks for giving us a taster!
It's funny in our age where we feel we have conquered most problems with technology that we still have to relay messages......
Always enjoy your posts - thanks
Dave from the UK
Great Pix!! Thanks for sharing them with us. -C.
Wow! Jealous is a word that comes to mind. As you're aware, down here in Florida, we don't have anything like that. At. All.
Gotta head north to the Carolinas or North Georgia to get anything even hinting at that view.
Thanks for sharing! Now, I'll go back to looking at swampland and the pine tree crops... 8(
Did I ever tell you, GPS_Direct, about the Florida avionics specialist who installed a super-duper GPS system with terrain warning features in a customer's airplane and they couldn't complete the post installation testing, because there was no high ground for them to fly towards?
OMG, gorgeous pics!
I just went back and revisited my old Alaska bush pilot pics and scanned them into the computer for an upcoming blog.
Such lovely scenery that we often take for granted!
Eric
capnaux.blogspot.com
Fantastic! I so rarely see mountains ... living in the midwest it's just on rare trips. And when I do, they're never covered with snow. Lucky you.
Further, I certainly can appreciate the desire to relay a massage. They can feel so good after hours of flying.
The story about the Florida avionics specialist who installed a super-duper GPS system with terrain warning features in a customer's airplane and they couldn't complete the post installation testing, because there was no high ground for them to fly towards reminds me about all the stuff Bavarians say to mock those on the coast. (Before anyone thinks this a a trigger for yet another Alps/Fishhead or US/Canada war, please let me mention that I do miss the sea and wish to hop on a train to Holland!)
Lol, sounds typical. And you can get the fish finder to show terrain down here... It's just that the whole screen goes red at once!
No density altitude to speak of, and no de-icing. But, we do have huuuuuge tracts of MOA and Restricteds, and melting to the seats in summer. And, wondering what's waiting to eat us in those swamps... Whee!
Great post, and great description of the rockies. Nice job on taking some of those photos as well. It's a view that most people never get to see, and really on pilots like yourself to supply the material.
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