The Liberty Gazette
November 8, 2022
Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely
Mike: Two of my greatest passions are flying and hiking. Carving out some time to get away from the ordinary business of life, I bask in both when we fly up to Amarillo.
The propeller on our Grumman Cheetah pulls us through the atmosphere, that invisible mixture of gases that surrounds the earth. Our wings lift us to the altitude that gives us the best tailwind. The big Texas sky looks infinite. It’s the way air scatters the sun’s light; blue light scatters easily, so we don’t see the other colors unless light strikes water droplets in the air at a certain angle, producing a multi-colored arc. We saw no rainbows on our most recent trip to Palo Duro Canyon; the cloudless sky was a brilliant blue.
Linda: The flight up there was Mike’s turn to captain the ship, and the decision on where to land was his. It’s typically pretty windy in Amarillo, but we have our choice of airports with different options for runway directions. At the big commercial airport, the runways form an X on the ground. This day, the wind was coming from the south at 18 knots gusting to 26, and the runway that is northwest-to-southeast was closed. That left the best option as runway 22, with a hefty left crosswind, rather strong for the light-weight Cheetah, which made Mike work to keep from overshooting his turn to final. But he had no trouble dipping the left wing and touching down on only the left main wheel until the Elyminator slowed enough to let the right wheel down. It was a beautiful, skilled landing with experience at the controls.
Mike: We settled in at a guest house with an expansive stone and wood patio. The koi pond was the feature attraction, and among the several seating areas, our favorite was the “street scene,” a bench under a short, vintage streetlamp replica. This serene spot contributes to relaxation and invites contemplation.
The next day, we hiked the Lighthouse trail, rated as a “moderate” level for the average hiker. It’s the state park’s most popular trail, the one often seen on postcards. It was nearly six miles round trip and over 600 feet of climbing to get to the plateau where the rock formation that gives the trail its name resides. The last two tenths of a mile are quite an upward scramble.
Linda: Exposed geologic formations give the canyon its stunning natural beauty. Stratified layers of sedimentary rock present geologists with natural “pages” to research and interpret. For the rest of us, the awe-inspiring aspect is enough. We savor the views flying over the canyon on the way to the airport and then hiking down in the depths.
For our second day’s trek, we started on the Comanche Trail until it intersected the challenging Rock Garden Trail and then continued climbing steeply to the canyon rim. We’ve checked four out of 15 pedestrian trails off the list now. There’s more flying and hiking to do.
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