Last evening I had an amazing flight in my CH-701.  In the 1980s the provincial government had a program of applying herbicide to recently replanted conifer forests so that the young trees would not have to compete with faster growing native deciduous vegitation.  The side effect of this program was the creation of gravel runways in remote locations throughout the region.  Having found one of these abandoned strips more than adequate for my 701 when I checked it last weekend, I decided to check out the other strip in my area.

After takeoff I followed my normal routine of flying towards my parents place about 20 miles east of the airport.  I then continued for another ten or so miles to the next lake along the highway.  According to my map, the river that fed this lake would lead me to the lake adjacent to the spray strip.  I had little trouble finding the strip but unfortunately, it was too deteriorated to be usable even for the 701.  I suppose someone could set a plane down on the parallel road in an emergency but the bush has begun to reclaim the original landing area.

On the way up to the strip I noticed several pretty spots along the river I had used for navigation purposes.  Since it was such a beautiful evening and I would have a slight headwind at altitude, I decided to follow the river at a fairly low level on the way back towards town.  My original plan was to record this part of the flight with my on-board video system but unfortunately, the camera did not record for some reason.  Regardless, I was treated to the amazing scenery and now have an excuse to go back and see it again, this time with the camera system working.

The river is about fifteen miles long and follows a fairly straight course through relatively undisturbed forest.  Aside from a few long abandoned cutting roads and several re-forested cut-overs, there is little sign of human effect on the area.  There are about five sets of low water falls or rapids along the river's length that spill into inviting looking pools. Near the lower end of the river, the surrounding hills were level with my wing creating a valley as the river carves through the forest.