This year, around the middle of December, 125 volunteers (60 of which are pilots) got together to so something special.
Originating in Salt Lake City, and organized by a non-profit called “Backcountry Santa”, donations are flown in small, general aviation aircraft directly to the Navajo Nation. For pilots, it's especially rewarding because the airstrips we get to use for the event are on private land most of the year and are normally not accessible. But due to the special nature of our flights, the Navajo Nation approves our use of their strips to participate in this worthy mission.
This was my first year participating in Backcountry Santa, and I was excited and curious to see how their operation was run. A few days before the scheduled flight, pilots pick up their cargo from a hanger at the Salt Lake City airport, and wow... what a hanger! The boxes were neatly organized next to some beautiful, matching jets, but what really stood out to me... was the logo on the box. It’s a clever and creative combination of a bush-plane with antlers made to look like a reindeer.... A very nice touch! So,I picked up about 400 lbs of goods and headed to my Cessna 182 to load it up.
The week leading up to the flight was unseasonably cold, with single digit temperatures and wind chills below zero. It made it more uncomfortable than usual to be outside at our normally windy airports, and made me look forward to when this plane can be kept inside year round!
After a little bit of struggling with my allotment of 12 boxes in the 182, I finally got it all to fit to still sit within an appropriate center of gravity.
All airplanes have a certain limit to how far forward, or aft, weight can sit within the plane. I was surprised how far forward the weight had to be to keep the tail from sinking to the ground.
On the day of the flight, we had perfect weather. I flew from Salt Lake City down to Spanish Fork to pick up my pilot buddy, Reed who was joining for the day's adventure. After getting back in the air, Reed took the reins of the 182 from Spanish Fork to Montezume Creek, a small town about 20 miles south east of Blanding, UT.
When we arrived overhead the dirt landing strip, we could see a few other planes on the ground already unloading their cargo. Reed made a perfect landing and we taxi’d over next to a truck and trailer to unloaded our own boxes.
Even though the temperature that day was only in the high twenties, we didn’t notice as we got plenty of blood flowing unloading the boxes. Between the pilots and the locals, it didn’t take long to empty the plane and re-configure for the flight home. I was very much looking forward to flying the airplane without being at max gross weight for the rest of the day! It flies very differently "loaded to the gills".
While waiting to take-off, a large group of tail wheel pilots continued to arrive with their cargo. Most of the group flew a plane called a Husky, with at least one Cub in the mix.... and a Cessna 175.
It was fun to watch them come into land, one after the other, and park in a nice row. You could tell the pilots were enjoying themselves.
While waiting to depart, we talked with one of the locals who said just the day before, he'd used a large grader to smooth out the runway surface. He pointed to a lot of rocks and said they were all on the runway before he smoothed it out. Glad he did that!
Another unique feature of the Montezuma creek airstrip is, it’s right next to a road with light poles. You can see them in the background of this photo. I always enjoy getting to land somewhere unusual, and this strip was definitely that!
No flying adventure is complete without a group photo!
The locals were a big help in unloading the plane, and we all enjoyed getting a chance to say "Happy Holidays" before heading out.
On our way back to Salt Lake City, Reed and I made a detour to visit some of Utah's famous back Country strips. This one is called 'Nokai Dome', and we were joined by two buddies in a 4-seat Bearhawk tail dragger. The information on the airstrip listed its width as 10’, which you pilots out there know is very narrow! Luckily, when we flew over we noticed it was a bit wider then that and ended up being an excellent spot to land.
Here you can see the '182 on the left sitting next to the Bearhawk. The '182 is called a "tricycle gear" aircraft, as the little wheel is on the front of the airplane, under the engine. The Bearhawk is called a "conventional gear", or tail dragger aircraft, as the little wheel is in the back. Most planes you see around an airport now days have tricycle gear, but most back country planes are tail draggers. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but both were perfectly suitable for this days adventure.
My wife would have been proud of us four guys, as I usually don’t bring proper snacks when I fly. Not that I brought any of these specific snacks, but at least one of us did, (thanks Matt) !!
Even though the temperature was chilly, in the sun and without any wind it felt amazing! We all agreed that next time we got together for a back country flight, we needed to make a day of it and actually explore some of the places we land. Due to the early sunset we have throughout the winter, we had limited time to spend on the ground before needing to continue towards home.
Reed and I parted ways with Mike and Matt in the Bearhawk, and then visited two more airstrips on the way home. This one is called 'Dirty Devil', and is on the shorter side (1,200’) of where I usually take the '182. As usual, the plane performed even better than expected and we enjoyed about 30 minutes of sunshine before the sun went behind the cliffs. From 'Dirty Devil' we next stopped at 'Angel Point', but stayed in the plane. 'Angel Point' was interesting..... The runways (there are two of them), where much longer, but not very flat, with a number of humps that made it feel more like a roller coaster than a runway. Reed and I were both surprised at the difference the landing surface was as opposed to the way it looked in photos.
All part of the fun.
After leaving 'Angel Point', we had just enough time to get Reed back to his car before he was going to officially be late for a family Christmas party he was attending that evening. The day started at sunrise and went all the way until sunset..... Indeed a KAVU Day! It was especially pretty seeing the Wasatch Mountains covered in snow after flying all day over the red rocks of southern Utah.
By the time the sun went down, Backcountry Santa had delivered over 27,000 lbs of donations and served 550+ tribal members . I plan on participating each year, as it’s a great cause and an even greater excuse to get out and fly in an amazing part of the country. Other pilots and volunteers interested in getting involved can learn more about the organization at www.backcountrysanta.org.
Hope to see you all out there next year!
Neil Amonson
IG
FB
Absolute Flight Training
© 2026 KAVU
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