Belen: 6:13 am Belen: 10:20 am Today s Airtime: 4.1 Total PIC Time: Total Logged Time:

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Meghan Barnett
5 years ago
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Saturday, May 19, 2018 Cobra flight #631, PIC #644, 2 landings Balls, Mt Taylor, Cerro Alesna, Cliff House, Blue Hole Spring, Banco de la Casa, Red Mesa Belen: 6:13 am Belen: 10:20 am Today s

1 Saturday, May 19, 2018 Cobra flight #631, PIC #644, 2 landings Balls, Mt Taylor, Cerro Alesna, Cliff House, Blue Hole Spring, Banco de la Casa, Red Mesa Belen: 6:13 am Belen: 10:20 am Today s Airtime: 4.1 Total PIC Time: Total Logged Time: I head up north to meet two trike pilots, Mark and Mike for a trip to Mt Taylor, and over to the back side. I sent them a text message before taking off, with my prediction of when I would be up near Double Eagle Airport. About the time I reached the Balls, they were crossing the Puerco. We turned west for Mt Taylor.

2 We flew past the wind turbines, then over the forest that surrounds Mt Taylor. We flew over Laguna Redonda, a permanent lake of the side of the mountain.

3 The wind was blowing from the northeast and we slowly climbed up the windward side. I climbed above the rim and looked down into the caldera. I was blowing 10-15, so I stayed high above the rim and crossed over the crater, and then worked my way back to the windward side, following the rim.

4 The air was very smooth up here. Far to the northeast I could see the tall spire if Cerro Alesna. I told Mark and Mike to head over there.

5 Mark and Mike were ahead of me by about a mile. I pulled in and dropped lot of altitude down to this small desert valley. Alesna was directly ahead. From here, the tower looks very steep and formidable.

6 I always approach the peak with caution. In 2011 I flew directly over the peak and was tipped on my side by a strong thermal. On that ride, the trike seemed to feel like it was in free fall for a second. I held the control bar steady in a neutral position and the trike pulled out of the dive naturally in a few seconds. When I turned around I found I had gained some altitude. From this the peak looks like a shark tooth, or fin. Shark Tooth is a nickname for this peak.

7 Here I am right at the top. There is no summit cairn of rock piled on top. The peak is very steep and the rock looks very unstable. I wonder if anyone has ever climbed it. I can find no records on the internet of anyone succeeding.

8 Here is a nice tail cam view of Cerra Alesna made possible by my GoPro Fusion Camera.

9 I left Cerro Alesna and showed Mark and Mike the ruins on two buttes to the north. This one has 4 well defined circular walls. The small butte in the background also has ruins, but they are less well defined. We ll head over there next.

10 This is the second butte with its small collection of ruins.

11 I made a pass over the Cliff House. You can see at the center of the video screen capture. I zoomed in on the single room cliff house on the right.

12 I was a few miles to the south of the Blue Hole Spring on Arroyo Chico. So I diverted over for a look. I tried to drag Mark and Mike over, but they were anxious to head back home to Double Eagle and continued on around the corner of the Mt Taylor Plateau. I don t get to see this spring too often, it is a long way from Belen. It was flowing strongly into the arroyo.

13 I flew over to Banco de la Casa and grabbed some picts of the front side (upper left) and the back side (lower right). It is a very interesting ruin.

Nice pict on the left with Cerro Nuestra Senora in the back background.

14 I flew past Tapia Canyon, but it was a little to windy for me to explore the canyons. I continued on to my favorite Red Mesa. Nice pict on the left with Cerro Nuestra Senora in the back background. I made a couple passes to look a the circular ruin. I finally found after years of searching on the edge of the ruin. You can see it below. I put a marker in to help you find it. circular ruin

15 Mark saw me while I was circling the Red Mesa. He was on the ground taking his pitstop. I used to like to do that, but don t anymore unless I have too. It s an unnecessary risk I avoid now, unless I have a reason to land. I found Mark s trike on a dirt road. It was a good, flat stretch of road. I good place to land. I watched him takeoff (above) them we flew together for a while towards Double Eagle. I split off and then headed on south down the valley to Belen.

16 Here are my GPS tracks the day s flight. Blue Hole Banco de la Casa Albuquerque Ruins Mt Taylor Plateau Marks Landing Red Mesa Cerro Alesna Balls Mt Taylor Belen

Belen: 5:57 am Belen: 9:23 am Airtime: 3.4 hrs Total PIC Time: Total Logged Time:

Tuesday, July 4, 2017 Cobra flight #588, PIC #601, 2 landings Tent Rocks, La Ventana, Slot Canyons, Red Mesa Ruin, Nuestra Senora, Canoncito Ruins, Rio Salado Belen: 5:57 am Belen: 9:23 am Airtime: 3.4