We flew the Baron on a camping adventure in June, 2000 in the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. On our way to Idaho, we stopped for a tour of the Lancair Factory in Redmond, Oregon. We had intended to establish a base camp in Johnson Creek, Idaho (which is a beautiful grass strip along the Johnson Creek near Yellow Pine). However, the weather didn't cooperate, and on our second attempt to make our way to Johnson Creek, we saw a large hole in the clouds over Big Creek. We spiraled down over this hole and landed there. This first picture is just after we landed and stopped the airplane in the parking area.
The left wingtip is pointed down the runway that we just landed on. It was a bit wet and muddy, resulting in a messy underbelly on the airplane. The hole over the rather narrow valley that we dropped through (with gear and flaps hanging in the breeze) closed up about 45 minutes later. We were the only aircraft to get into Big Pine that day, and since there had been clouds and rain the previous several days, we were the first in quite a while.
We had planned on camping, but the campground was wet and the temperature was about 45 degrees and falling, so we elected to stay in the Big Pine Lodge.
The inn and adjacent buildings are somewhat rustic.
