Seven and a half hours after I laid my head on the pillow, my phone rang. It was time to get up and do it all again. Check out, catch a ride to the airport, load the plane, add fuel, and away we go! During the ride to the airport, I called Canadian flight service and got some good news: The weather was halfway decent at Smithers for our departure and would be improving as we got further to the southeast toward Golden. I was looking forward to going VFR, staying low and enjoying the scenery along the way.
We followed a natural river valley called the “trench” that almost all the way from Smithers to Golden. We had plenty of room under the clouds to cruise at 3,500 feet. I was really enjoying the view, but the flight was very bumpy. Michele said she was doing OK, but I knew she wouldn’t last for long. As we continued, the clouds overhead broke up and we could see blue skies above. We had to climb all the way up to 11,500 feet before the air smoothed out.
The view was still great from that altitude in the trench. We had 10,000 foot snow covered mountains on both sides as we followed the river below. A couple hours later, it was time to descend back into the bumpy air for our arrival in Golden. I felt like we were riding a bucking bronco as we approached the airport. I knew my passengers would be green around the gills soon, so I elected to land with a tailwind rather than circling around the airport. Generally, you want to land into the wind to keep your ground speed slower and shorten your ground roll, but I knew we had plenty of runway length (5,000 feet) and it was no problem.
After landing, we taxied up to the self-serve fuel pumps and shut down. They didn’t have a ladder tall enough to reach our wing tanks, but the airport manager was very helpful: He pulled his pickup truck under the wing and we put the ladder on top. After fueling, we got the plane secured and then he gave me a ride into town to pick up our rental car. I had a little trouble finding the airport again, but I finally made it back, loaded up the family, and we headed out for Lake Louise.
It took about an hour to get there and I really enjoyed the magnificent views as the road winded through the mountains. Of course, I would have enjoyed it more if we could have received a radio station. Without music, the kids were forced to sing Nickelback’s Rock-Star again and again and again…
Despite my frequent karaoke induced urges to drive us off a cliff, we finally made it safely to the Post Hotel. We are very pleased with the hotel. Michele and I have a two-bedroom suite (the kids have twin beds upstairs).
After dinner, we went for a stroll around the grounds and now the kids are taking a bath. Tomorrow…we have no plans! There is a scenic gondola ride up the mountain nearby or maybe a canoe ride on the lake.
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