Seelley Lake '07

<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>  Looking for someplace to go that was not on fire, I remembered a visit to a strip at Seeley Lake, MT (23S) in the early 90s.  I recalled camping under my wing next to the strip, which was nestled in a beautifull wooded area near the town of Seeley Lake.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>  We decided to drop in and have a look.  It must have been our lucky day because they'd just opened their pilots campground.  There's a nice area with covered picnic tables and a gas grill.  The airport also has free bikes and a couple of loaner vehicles for driving into town.</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="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aerial Tour 07"><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="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Magee 07"><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> Seelley Lake '07</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="29b2b600.jpg" border=0 width="811" height="608" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>  An overhead view of the Seeley Lake strip. The strip is 4,500 ft. long at an elevation of 4,300 ft.  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="29c20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> View of the parking area from the pilots campground.  The red taildragger landed just before our group of four.  The locals were wondering why</div> <div> their little airstrip had suddenly become so popular.</div> <bR> <div>  <IMG SRC="29d2d620.jpg" border=0 width="813" height="610" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The pinic area with complimentary gas grill sits next to the campground.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="29e3b6c0.jpg" border=0 width="827" height="620" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mark lands his 182 on the strip after a local reconnaissance flight.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="29f47750.jpg" border=0 width="839" height="629" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The courtesy car is actually a short school bus (quite fitting for our crew) sponsored by Lindy's Steak House in Seeley Lake.    I can highly </div> <div> recommend the burgers at Lindey's Landing by the boat docks.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2a05e070.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="263" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="2a12cc80.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Things can change quickly.  About a week after our visit to Seeley Lake, there was a major forest fire.  Above right is a picture I took of the </div> <div> docks at Lindey's Landing on the lake.  Above left is a smokey picture of the same area that was sent to me two weeks later.  Fortunately, </div> <div> the town and the airport were spared, although a lot of acreage around the lake was blackened. </div> </td> </tr></table></body>