We had hot but nice weather in North Dakota but when we awoke, it was smoky and hazy. There were also clouds over Yellowstone and I started to second guess our route. We would fly from Dickinson to Billings Montana to tank up and then on to Idaho falls. The path to Idaho Falls had some big mountains to cross, some above 12,000 feet. Our plan was to fly Billings to Cody and then West along Highway 14 and through Sylvan Pass.
My concerns included clouds/obscured mountains, low visibility and winds/turbulence. It looked like we might have issues but regardless of what we ultimatly did, we would stop in Billins so off we went. Departing Dickinson, we had haze with 3-4 mile visibility. We went IFR and were soon cruising in a brownish cloud. We were able to get the visual approach at Billings and picked up the runway about 6 miles out the visibility was getting better but not as good as I wanted.
We had a quick turn at a nice FBO. They stocked us with water and Dot’s pretzels, a local brand, and they insisted we take several bags. They were fast and efficient and we were soon heading to Twin Falls Idaho. The weather reports on both sides of the mountains were better with improved visibility and no clouds so we pressed on even though the conditions were only marginal in Billings. We initially climbed to 8500. Though VFR we had flight following the entire way and Salt Lake Center kept a close watch on us. Approaching Cody the visibility got better and I stopped focussing on backup plans and started executing our current one. We step climbed to 10,500 and started to track down Highway 14.
I have a new addition for the plane, an oxygen generator to provide supplemental oxygen. We were not going to be at altitudes that required O2 by regulation but more O2 is better than less. We continued to step climb to 12,500 which put us above most of the terrain. We have terrain awareness that lets us monitor our position relative to terrain and we were flying a pre planned route to avoid terrain but having extra awareness is always good.
I have flown at 12,500 before without O2 and was fine but both CC and I felt the extra O2 made us more alert. As we entered the valley to transition the mountains, the visibility went from bad to great. We were soon seeing 60 plus miles and could clearly see all the terrain. We could even see the Grand Tetons off in the distance. Going to 12,500 made it much easier. The pass we had planned to use was 8,537 feet so we had plenty of clearance. After we cleared the mountains, we crossed Yellowstone lake and had a smooth ride all the way to Idaho Falls.
Our FBO at this stop was Aeromark, they brought our car out and fueled us as we sorted our junk and then it was off to the Falls in Idaho Falls. They had been altered by the engineers but they were cute. Then it was off to Rexburg where we found our hotel room not ready. The excuse was that the coming Friday was move in day for the local college. That made little sense but I felt further inquiry was futile. We continued on our way to visit Mesa Falls. The drive up started flat but ended up in the foothills.
Arriving we went to pay our $5 entry fee and found out our park pass covered us. Another score for the America the Beautiful Pass. The waterfalls were big and impressive. The upper falls were right in front of us but they were angled a bit which made the view a bit from the side. The lower falls had a great straight on view but you had to observe from a distance.
On the way back we enjoyed some overlooks and stopped by the Warm River which was not warm by my standards. The Terrain was very scenic and we really enjoyed our drive. Today we knocked off 2 more states. We did not sightsee Montana but we will when we visit Yellowstone, stay tuned. We are down to 6 states left, getting close to done.
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