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As I crested the mountains the visibility was unlimited and the ride very smooth. The only fly in the ointment was the low fog layer blanketing every valley ahead as far as the eye could see. Checking with Flight Watch, I received a “clear & forever” weather report for TPH and continued on while I listened to the ASOS & AWOS reports of the fields to the south that offered multiple opportunities for diversion should the need arise. Ten miles short of Tonopah the low cloud/fog layer disappeared and I landed with 3 hours block-to-block time and over an hour of fuel remaining.
I departed northern California, Charles Schulz Airport (STS), Santa Rosa, early Wednesday morning on a direct course for Tonopah (TPH), Nevada, 306 miles away, Although it was dark at 0615 as I crossed the fog-shrouded valley of central California, I could make out the locations of many of the towns below through the holes in the fog or the glow of the lights on the fog. By the time I approached the Sierras I had begun climbing again as I had chosen a direct route that would require nearly 13,000 feet of altitude to clear the rocks. A small diversion would have required 2000-3000 feet less altitude through one of the multiple passes, but I wished to see how the aircraft performed at altitude, and pressed on as the sun silhouetted the horizon ahead.
The next leg, 319 miles, was along the northern edge of a military Restricted area on a direct route over Zion National Park to the Glen Canyon dam at Page, Arizona. The area ahead of me encompassed some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the world...Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bridges National Monument, Canyon Lands, Glen Canyon, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the Cliff dwellings, to name just a few. Anyone flying in the Four Corners area could spend a week sightseeing by small aircraft and not cover all of the sights available. Not a cloud enroute, beautiful scenery, and 2.9 hours blocks to blocks. Having seen all of the enroute scenery before, and not wishing to delay too much since I was delivering the aircraft for someone else, I enjoyed the scenery flying over Zion and flew directly to Page, AZ, just a mile from the Glen Canyon dam.
