Johnson Creek '04

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="043c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B>This year I made two trips to Johnson Creek (3U2).  The first capped off a week in Idaho and Montana with my pal Doug.  The second was with my sister Ceci (as seen on this site!) for the annual </B><A HREF="http://www.harmonicacontest.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.harmonicacontest.com/"><U><B>Harmonica Fest</B></U></A><B> in Yellow pine.</B></div> <div> <B>While there with Ceci, I saw the first bear I've ever seen at Johnson Creek.  He was half way up the west slope of the canyon, tossing boulders down.  This made quite a bit of noise, which is how I noticed him.  Apparently, he was turning the big rocks over, looking for bugs underneath (a favorite snack for black bears). </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>John Galban's Flying Site</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="John Galbans Flying Site"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="16"><B>     </B><A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Creek 04"><U><B><IMG SRC="04910100.gif" border=0 width="16" height="16" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>     </B><A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Engine Overhaul 05"><U><B><IMG SRC="04a10100.gif" border=0 width="16" height="16" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="John Galbans Flying Site"><U><B><IMG SRC="04b100e0.gif" border=0 width="16" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B> </B></div> <div> Johnson Creek '04</div> <div> <IMG SRC="1849bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>   That's me with Gene and Cody Hargett, caretakers of the strip at Johnson Creek.   They've been here since I first dropped in </div> <div> back in '96 and are well known by most pilots who fly the Idaho backcountry.  When not taking care of Johnson Creek, they </div> <div> run the<A HREF="http://www.angelsnook.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.angelsnook.com/"><U> Angel's Nook RV Park</U></A> in White Bird, ID. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1869bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> When the weather is warm near the runway, it's always cooler in the creek.  This year we perfected the technique of </div> <div> balancing a folding chair on the rocks in the creek and relaxing, eating, etc...  Not only is it much cooler, the mosquitos rarely venture</div> <div> out over the water.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="187e2400.jpg" border=0 width="482" height="320" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Here's another view of the creek.  The fishing is usually quite good.  Back in 2001, the salmon started returning </div> <div> to the creek.  Now it's not unusual to see a fisherman with a 20 lb. salmon on the hook.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1899bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> That's Mark and Melody, our flying companions from Phoenix.   We hiked up the 1.5 mile trail to the hot spring.  The </div> <div> hike is mostly up the side of a canyon, so it helps to be in good shape.  If you're not, the last 1/4 mi. is very steep and </div> <div> will probably kill you :-)   If you're in the mood for a soak, the black pipe feeds the tub with water from the hot spring.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="18d77f40.jpg" border=0 width="375" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> When you come to Johnson Creek, please remember to bring some nuts for the locals.  This little guy on my knee I called </div> <div> Taildragger.   These little guys are friendly, but they're not above rummaging through your food when you're not around.</div> <div> Keep everything tightly lidded</div> </td> </tr></table></body>