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blizzard warnings - 13:52 , 03 October 2013

heelerless - 21:32 , 18 August 2013

Red Coat Inn in Fort McLeod - 11:38 , 23 June 2013

rushing into the waters - 09:53 , 21 June 2013

choosing a spot - 17:43 , 27 April 2013

17 April 2006 - 22:49

65 knots

When the heeler sisters and I got home from our lek route, I found a note on the front door. From the wife.

There's been a flight canceled. I can fly earlier, if I want.

Oookay. Sooner we get done flying, the sooner I can have something to eat. So I call the pilot.

Think it's windy enough to fly? I ask. Where I was checking leks, it was a calm, peaceful morning. But here along the Divide, the wind is really whipping.

"We might have to go up to 12,000 feet to stay out of the bumps, but we should be able to find them." he answers. And so, 15 minutes after getting home, I'm off again.

We have to re-install the yagi antennas on the wing struts, and the pilot has to use the parking brake to keep the plane from gliding away on the tarmac on its own. The wind is bouncing the plane so hard I have to hold each strut still so the mechanic can bolt the antennas on.

I mean, when the windsock is stretched straight out, that is not a good thing.

When the wind is actually bending the pole holding the windsock, well, Katie bar the door. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Naturally, the strong headwind gave us great lift. We sprung into the air like a kite on a string.

Didn't know you installed an elevator on this thing, I announce to the pilot.

And yeah, he's smiling. I think he likes flying in the wind.

Which is a good thing, I guess, if you're going to be a pilot on the Continental Divide.

Got some of my best images of town yet, seeing as we were so high as we passed over.

Seven miles later we were still climbing, with nothing visible over the front cowling except blue sky. I reached up with the camera and took a shot in the blind, snagging a view of our elk winter range, most of it bereft of snow, and of elk.

Found half of our ten collared elk within 25 minutes, all within a few miles of each other along the Continental Divide. These are essentially on their summer range already, just waiting for the snow to melt out of the aspen stands and the land to green up.

While we melted a lot of snow with the past week's warm temperatures, it might be a while before the huge snow drifts are gone. At least, judging by the size of the drifts around Hidden Lake.

The other five cow elk, though, have a ways to go to get to their summer ranges. Most are still in the transitional zone,

that hilly country that mixes warm, green slopes with cold draws and huge banks of snow. But as you can tell, they're getting us closer to those mountains in that southern state.

A couple even got us close, but not quite to, the national forest boundary.

Where we were also able to see that the ice is quickly breaking up on the county's newest reservoir.

Even around 10,500 feet we took a pounding, as attested to by the horrific penmanship of my datasheet. One bump threw my GPS up off the clipboard, where I caught it midair about eight inches above my lap. But I did well, not needing to pull out one of my airsickness bags until after elk nine. And I made it back to the hangar with the bag unused.

As we turned back towards town after finding the tenth elk, the pilot pointed at the little glowing digits on the console.

"195 knots!" he announced, almost with glee. "We normally cruise around 130."

65 knots of tail wind. We could almost fly the plane backwards.

And you can see from that picture how bumpy the flight was.

As we quickly dropped down to the airport runway, I spotted yet another sign of spring.

The golf greens are starting to turn green.


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