MONUMENT VALLEY UTAH
and
Points Beyond
May 17 - June 1, 2005
John Hauck

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	First night out was Love County Airport, Marietta, OK. It is a 3,000 ft grass strip with one old Piper Tripacer, that never flies anymore, based there. Don't know that anyone else ever uses this old, historic site. I put my MKIII in the empty hanger next to an old, unrestored Allis Chalmers tractor, sleep on the concrete pad under the nose of the airplane.
	After two and a half days of great weather and flying, Monument Valley was in sight through the bug spattered windshield of the MKIII:
	Taken from the road leading down from the camp ground to the place where coffee is served at 0700:
	Looking down at the Gouldings Airstrip, Monument Valley, Utah, from over the 800 ft rock face behind the restaurant and lodge:
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	Where we camped in the canyon:
	Photos of Monument Valley taken prior to 0700 and coffee call. The high pinnacle in these shots, approximately 500 feet tall from the top of the base structure, was a scene in one of Clint Eastwood's movies. Flying very closely over this pinnacle gives me the heebie jeebies, much less standing on top of it. The pinnacle is not exactly vertical, it leans like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
	More shots of Monument Valley and still no coffee:
	Sediment ponds at the uranium mine south of Moab, Utah:
	A little Kolb Firefly high over Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Quite a contrast. Firefly is flown and owned by Jim Hefner of Arizona:
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	Confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers:
	Arches National Park. Note the arch in the very center of the photo. Can you name it?
	Same arch as above. Note the people on the near side of it. Gives a good example of how large the arch is. The setting is very dramatic. I would like to view this one from the ground some day:
	Retired CW4 John Williamson flying his Kolb Kolbra over the Utah desert:
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	Gary Haley, Houston, TX, flying over Utah Lake, Utah, south of Salt Lake City:
	South side of the Great Salt Lake:
	John W over Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah:
	John W and Gary H over Bonneville:
	Like flying over a snow field, the salt will dazzle you and cause severe depth perception deprivation:
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	This is "Stink", a female Perigrine Falcon, belonging to Karen Cottrell. Stink is a member of the world's fastest bird family, the Perigrines. She sits in the warm sun of the Alvord Desert, where the crew spent a few days enjoying the hospitality of Larry and Karen:
	Our camp in the Alvord Desert:
	John W says goodbye as he heads north on our last day in the Alvord:
	John W, John Hauck, and Gary H, flying formation in the Alvord Desert. Photo courtesy of Karen Cottrell:
	Wild mustangs in the Sheldon Wildlife Management Area of Nevada:
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	Gary H out of Cedarville, California, heading down the valley to Reno/Stead Airport, home of the Unlimited Air Races:
	I spent the night under the wing of the MKIII at Lone Pine, CA. Little did I know that the low murmur I heard early in the evening would become a roar as the cows in the feed lot across Hwy 365 began to really serenade me. Never again will I spend the night in Lone Pine. That is Mt Whitney in the background:
	A couple hours out of Santa Clarita, CA, I had to take a "pit stop". Rather than fly 25 miles off my course, I did an off field landing in a dry creek bed. Didn't know the sand was nearly so deep. Dropped tire pressure from 15 to 10 psi prior to take off attempt. MKIII did better than I expected getting out of there, fully loaded with only 10 lbs or so of the 150 lbs of fuel burned off:
	Meteor Crater in Arizona. A very large hole, indeed:
	Not bad for a bunch of old farts! ;-)
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Take care, john h titus, alabama PS: Three day flight from Santa Clarita, CA, to Gantt International Airport, Alabama, at 80 mph cruise!