A while back I wrote a blog post about flying in and out of a sporty, little, gravel and grass strip in SW New Mexico called “Me Own”. Knowing that hunters would soon converge on the area, we decided to fly in again right before hunting season started to enjoy a sunset dinner and a night under the stars.
We left town late – around 1 p.m. – and flew south into the unsettled, monsoon weather that frequents the Gila wilderness this time of year. This part of NM is one of the most remote wilderness areas in the lower 48 and the primary reason the place is so attractive to us. About an hour into the flight south from Albuquerque, air traffic controllers gave us the “are you aware of the rising terrain along your route of flight?” and the “radar service terminated” call, both questioning our judgement and letting us know that we were now on our own. A couple of miles further along, as we were flying over the VLA near Magdalena, NM, the on-board GPS looses signal, adding another twist to the adventure of taking an airplane into the back-country. Really no big deal – dead reckoning is how pilots flew airplanes for many years before GPS came along – if you can read a map.
As we closed in to the strip, we dodged rain showers (mostly virga) and some smoke from a lightning induced fire – probably from yesterdays storms. Locating the strip was easy and we did 2 descending circles over the strip, watching for elk and trying to discern the wind direction. Decision time came and we lined up for a left downwind pattern for runway 14. Worries over the wind direction turned out to be for naught. The wind sock was limp as a noodle when we rolled up to the top of the runway. Wildflowers were spectacular and were blooming on almost every inch of the runway. Only about 10 feet on the center-line of the runway was not covered with 3′ high wildflowers and grass. You definitely “mow the grass” each tine you land here!
The afternoon sky was filled with ever changing monsoon cloud formations and spectacular lighting that danced with the clouds as the sun set over the Arizona border and disappeared into the desert west. We enjoyed a walk down the runway (shown here) and a hike into the Aldo Leopold Wilderness just before dark. After a gourmet, freeze dried dinner and wine, we settled in to watch one of the best star shows in memory. Jupiter and Saturn were prominently hung on Scorpius and Sagittarius respectively and the milky way was well outlined in the moonless sky.
The next morning, as hunters began to arrive on scene, we packed the plane for the trip home and did our final weight & balance calculations. The worry over whether or not we had enough runway was not as intense as the last time we launched from this strip but it was there. We always discuss an emergency contingency plan for possible engine failure on takeoff each time we launch. I told Claudia that all I could do if the engine went out here was to try to give her a kiss and tell her I loved her before we hit the trees below. Claudia laughed but still did la bendicion before I applied throttle and we left for home.
We always try to see something new on each trip. This time, we detoured north and a bit west of our route to see the Acoma Pueblo, an ancient community west of Albuquerque situated high on a mesa surrounded by limestone and red-rock cliffs continuously inhabited for some 2000 years.
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- New Airglas Front Fork and upsized main tires
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- Sunset Gila Wilderness 3
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- End of Runway 32
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- Looking North Runway 32
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- Sunset Gila Wilderness 1
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- Sunset Gila Wilderness 2