Thread: Retracing Lewis and Clark

On September 14 a friend and I, both of us serious history buffs, are departing Albuquerque in my CT for St. Louis. Early the next morning we are setting out to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" up the Missouri River, over the same passes they followed through the mountains, all the way to Fort Clatsop near Astoria, Oregon where the expedition wintered in 1805-06. The CT is a perfect plane for this "low and slow" trip...we plan on 500 AGL most of the trip - except where conditions or prudence dictate higher altitudes such as over the mountains - so as to best take in the sights. Of course, low over the Missouri means a careful lookout for birds and hopefully not having a birdstrike! (Experienced one of those in 1982 in a C182...hit a Red Tail Hawk. Lots of leading edge wing damage). We are preloading dozens of the notable locations mentioned in their journals into the GPS so that we can ensure we see as much as possible. We'll be landing along the way when possible to make ground trips to some of the locations also. Any CTer - or anyone else for that matter - along the route or who might want to join in on any portion with us is welcome. Would also appreciate any recommendations for 91 octane Mogas available along the twisty route if anyone has information on that. We plan on completing the trip, flying into the Astoria Regional (KAST), by Friday 19 September and then fly home Saturday and Sunday.

This is a trip on my "bucket list"...one to do before I die, like rafting the Grand Canyon, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, etc. Done those, now this. Wish time allowed to do it like Lewis and Clark did - on the ground and water - but this is the realistic way to see the route.

Should be fun. Will be taking lots of photos and video...

John,

The "CTFlyer Computer" is close by on your trip - McMinnville, Oregon (KMMV). Please keep me posted - either stop by in McMinnville or let me know when you arrive in Astoria so I can come by there.

Roger H

Roger.

Will look forward to meeting you. We could stop off at McMinnville for an hour or so on the return leg headed home, after leaving KAST, to say hello, look at each other's planes, and swap some stories. If the schedule holds that will be Saturday morning September 20. If you wish, please send me an email with a good phone number and I will give you a call from enroute to update the schedule and pin down a time. We are pouring over the maps and the Journals of Lewis and Clark and getting pretty excited about this trip...

If you are a Lewis and Clark are buffs, you will definitely want to stop at Great Falls, Mt. and check out the Lewis and Clark Intreprative Center. http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/lewisclark/lcic/

Also, make sure you definitely want to check out the Upper Missouri Breaks, they are very very scenic. http://www.mt.blm.gov/ldo/um/pics/index.htm

Also, if you stop in Helena, Mt. there is a short boat tour of the Gates of The Mountains. Also when you fly over the Townsend area, there is an ancient Indian trail that was about a 1/2 mile a south of the river. If you look closely, you may see some Teepee Rings. They range about 15 accross and they are oval in shape. The door always faced east.

Also, if you stop in Helena, you may want to stop a Vetters Aviation. They are located next to the Tower. They have mixed Mogas/Avgas. They use that fuel combination in their training aircraft and flying club aircraft. The folks their are very nice and friendly. They can give you some good advice for flying over the passes.

If you are flying low and slow over the rivers near Townsend and Helena, you need to keep an eye out for eagles. Also, when you fly over Canyon Ferry Lake and Hauser Lake, there is usually a lot of wild life between the north shore and the mountain ridge. Be aware that your trip will be in the middle of Antelope and Elk hunting season.

They are already predicting snow in the high country. If you get into the Bob Marshall area or Glacier NP, you may see fresh snow. So make sure you pack some survival gear.

Bigfork, MT is a little town full of art studios. It is right outside of Kalispell. If you stop and do any hiking, be very aware that Montana is an arid state and it is full of prickly pear catus. Also,the winds around Havre have at times been clock up to 100 mph.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance on your travels through Monatana.

(No I don't own a CT, just a student pilot hoping to own one in the future.)

Just back from flying my CT to San Luis Obispo and return to Albuquerque. A buddy just back from Iraq got married - could not miss that. Good flight.

I really appreciate this terrific information and the links. Wow. Great stuff. And the recommendation for the gas stop is going to be definitely on the schedule. Again, thanks for this detailed info...anything else you can add is more than appreciated. Where in MT are you located?

Hope you can get a CT one day. Great airplane... Flew over to San Luis Obispo on Thursday in 6.5 hours flying time - was lucky not to have the normal headwind component going west. 7 hours on the home legs due to Wx avoidance causing some detouring. Still, beats driving 14 hours each way and total cost in fuel (mogas except at midway refueling stops at Kingman, AZ) was $331.20 for two people. Less than the price of one ticket on Southwest.

And yes, we will definitely be carrying some winter emergency gear.

Thanks!!!!

John,

If you stop in Salmon, Idaho (where Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide), give me a call! I can help with mogas, etc

(20 756-6000

Bob, I think that Salmon will be on the stop list then! Thanks for the offer on MOGAS assistance. We will be carrying three 5 gallon cans so just getting to a nearby station would be a great help. I have your number in my phone and will call the day before to confirm. Expecting to be there most likely on Thursday September 18 sometime. Appreciate your kind offer! Look forward to meeting you.

Sounds good, John

Did the trip. Wonderful Wx from Albuquerque to St. Louis area on 9/15 and then for several days while flying the route up the Missouri River; had great weather as far as Richland, WA and then because of IMC/very marginal VFR on the coast we headed for home on Saturday. Got beat up pretty good on Sunday with strong turbulence from Ely, NV to Albuquerque. Did not make the stop in Salmon, Bob...schedule did not work out. Hope to see you at Page??? Will post some photos when I get them downloaded. Incredible to look down and see so many places Lewis and Clark and others in the Corps of Discovery noted in their respective journals. The CT is the perfect plane for this...reasonable to fly and terrific visibility. Have not tallied up the numbers yet but roughly we flew something like 3700 miles in 34.3 hours for about $875 in fuel. And met a lot of great people along the way. The CT got a lot of attention everywhere we went.

A few photos from the trip...