Thorough planning is required when crossing the Rocky Mountains where they are highest. West of Boulder Longs Peak is towering with it's peak up to 14'255 ft. The ridge south of it with the famous Corona Pass requires a safe altitude of over 12'000 ft depending very much on the wind conditions. The knife like crest produces overpowering mountain waves when the jet stream is visiting this Latitude. This short hop of 100 nm ( 180 km) is not putting demands on endurance and when fully fueled at the start of the journey there is no need to buy the luxury fuel at the Aspen airport.

July 10 The weather was perfect for a flight over the Rocky Mountains to go have brunch in Aspen, Colorado. It is only an hour�s flight from Boulder. We jumped at the chance to fly over the beautiful mountains without having our brains rattled, as we have encountered it often all over the Rockies.

Aspen has one of those picturesque approaches where the runway is set in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains of red stone, lush evergreens and Aspen trees. Careful coordination with the frequent commercial air traffic is required as the way in is the way out, not much room to turn around.

Ueli clicked away with our camera as Joan flew and had N85S parked in no time. The altitude sun under a clear sky can be quite hot in the parked aircraft. Keep the cockpit cool while we go to town to keep cool our way.

Hold out the T at the bus stop and as visitor you can hop on the free bus into town. Asking the locals is making it easy to find the latest and best place for brunch. Yum, we hit the jackpot! Would the weight and balance be off for the trip home?

After the eating event, we pounded the pavements to work off a few calories and did some window shopping. Since it was off season and inventory was low, our pocketbooks didn�t feel a dent. More good luck! It really was a lovely day for walking and the temptation to stay longer was strong, but mountain weather can be rude at times. We opted to go back home so Ueli wouldn�t have such hard work over the mountains should the weather change from perfect to those mountain waves which sometimes cause some of us to say well known words like "oops" or much worse. A sensible decision was made. Ueli had fun flying while Joan shot some souvenir pictures and the day was a great one.

Mountain airports and towns are wonderful to visit, grab a bite and take some super pictures. The people are usually more laid back and very friendly. On the way home we pass Leadville, the highest airport in the Rockies. Yes, we have stopped there quite often.

On any given day with weather like the one today, we usually cancel any previous plans for the day to check out the well known and not so well known places. They are all great in their own way. We love it.

This page was last serviced on 29. February 2004