Spiral Jetty

By: Neil Amonson

By KAVU

July 23^rd, 2019

dreams into focus

Since the beginning of my airplane flying adventures I’ve been inspired by stories of the barnstormers. In the 1920's, nomad pilots would fly around the country making a living by doing a low pass over the middle of a town and then landing in a near by farmers field. Curious local residents would come out and be taken up on joy rides for a small fee. At night, these pilots would throw out their sleeping bags under their wings, often being invited into town for a home cooked meal, before going back out to their airplane to sleep under the stars.

This lucky adventure is dedicated to those barnstormers and their free-spirited flights.

For a few years now I have really been wanting to go airplane camping but, it had always been hard to line up the logistics. The weather needed to be perfect, I needed all the right gear..... I wanted a rock solid plan with lots of advance notice. Well it turns out I just needed to use what equipment I had, on a good day, with just enough time to throw the gear in my car and drive to the airport.

first things first...

....you gotta make sure you have enough gas to get to where you are going AND back. There aren’t any places to get airplane gas where we were headed so, I added an extra few gallons more then I thought I needed just to be safe.

By late afternoon, we (more on that in a second) were airborne and couldn’t believe I was on my first airplane camping trip! Turns out sometimes the best plan is no plan at all.....

and when the time is right you have to make your move.

As we quickly watched the suburbs fade away from view, we transition into the wild wild west we have just outside of Salt Lake City.

I flew us north over the Great Salt Lake where even the water has it’s own unique color. The reddish hue comes from salt loving organisms who have the same pigment in their cells as carrots, giving the water its special shade.

co-pilots

On this trip I had two special guests along with me, Heidi and Bertu. Heidi is a 1.5 year old German Shepard who has flown with me many times, though she insists on spending most flights nervously looking out the window. Her brother Bertu is a 6 month old Shilo Shepherd and this was only his second flight. His temperament is much more relaxed and it showed when just five minutes after take-off he was sound asleep on the floor. This really highlights the difference in the temperament of the two dogs. Heidi is bred to be a working dog which is why she has a hard time relaxing. Bertu is bred to be a companion dog and is quite happy doing nothing as long as he is with his pack.

spiral jetty

After about a 45 minute flight I spotted our destination on the horizon, Spiral Jetty.

Spiral Jetty was created in 1970 by American sculptor Robert Smithson. The jetty is made of local mud, salt crystals, and rocks. The jetty itself is 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide. Depending on the level of the lake, sometimes the jetty is below water and sometimes above. This time of year it is still dry, and visited by many tourists who make the four hour round trip drive from Salt Lake City to see it.

After landing on a two track road that serves as a little airstrip, I took a moment to enjoy the view and appreciate getting some dirt on my tires. Most of my flying is done from paved airports so it’s a special treat to take the airplane into the back country.

The dogs headed straight for the beach to stretch their legs and enjoyed chasing each other around while I set up camp. While the sand looked dry, only the top crusty layer was firm. Just under the surface the lake bed was very soft from all of our spring rain. While walking every couple steps or so my shoe would nearly get stuck in the mud.

It’s this thin crust that gets many cars, and sometimes even an airplane, stuck on the salt flats depending on where you are. Other areas are firm but you can never bee too sure.

settling in

No sooner was the tent up then the mosquitoes and flies that frequent the lake in the summer began a full assault on our camp.

The dogs made the smart choice and hung out in the tent until the sun started to go down. After sunset many of the bugs disappeared and we went for a walk exploring the local area.

My teepee style tent usually has a pole in the center of it to hold the tent up. But in just so happens that the wing of the airplane is the perfect height to attach the top of the tent to so I didn’t need the center pole which left the entire floor of the tent wide open. Lots of room for me and the dogs.

I went to sleep early but woke up in the middle of the night curious to see what the sky would look like so far away from the city.

I was not disappointed

While counting shooting stars I got out my camera and played with long exposures and using a head lamp to “paint” the plane with light. Most of the shots were either too dark, too light, or blurry, but the shot shown above turned out pretty neat.

We woke up nice and early to beat the heat and make the two mile walk to Spiral Jetty. The dogs enjoyed finding old bones to chew and and generally turning themselves into a sandy mess.

Well..... mostly Bertu was a sandy mess as Heidi likes to tackle him and he doesn’t put up much of a fight.

It was neat seeing the jetty up close after the day before having seen it from above, looking down from a few hundred feet in the air. Both views have their perks.

The airplane gave me the far away view of the counterclockwise spiral in contrast to the vast size of the lake and mountains it is surrounded by. The close up view on foot allowed me to appreciate the work that was put in moving all these boulders into position. Walking the length of the spiral reminded me of a labyrinth.

kavu days

Soon the sun crested the mountains to our east and it was time to escape back to civilization. We made the two mile walk back to the plane where the dogs took shade under the wings and I made sure everything from camp was picked up.

When visiting Spiral Jetty weather it’s on foot, in a car, or an airplane, be sure to practice “leave no trace”.

I enjoyed flying "low level" as I headed south back towards the city. The nice things about being in the middle of no where is that there aren’t any power lines, fences, antennas, people, or houses to watch out for allowing a style of flying that most places in the country don’t offer anymore.

As I climbed up in altitude to begin my approach back to South Valley Regional Airport, I was filled with a deep sense of appreciation that we still have so much open space in the West. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy having a Home Depot down the road and a grocery store a few miles from the house, but every now and then it’s nice to be able to leave it all behind and see what things looked like hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Taking a step back in time helps me keep my life in perspective and clear out some of the mental clutter that we accumulate from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives.

The next time you have a clear spot on your calendar, weather it’s a couple hours or a couple days, think to yourself, “How can I make the most of this?” In the spirit of the barnstormers, don’t wait until everything is in perfect order to create a special moment. Sometimes you have to take a chance and just go for it. Any excuse for adventure is a good one, and even better if you can bring a friend or two along with you.