Taking Flight
We showed up at the Canyonlands Field Airport slightly before 10:00am. My father, who had been living the “Van Life” for the past month, was organizing the contents of his van. We parked next to him, but not before giving the horn a quick beep as we pulled up. Unphased and totally not startled, he turned around and the first thing I noticed was his fully grown beard. You see, my father is a Law Enforcement officer and not allowed to have facial hair for work so it caught me off guard. Looked good though.
My father booked a flight for my wife, Meranda, and I in a Cessna 172 to fly over Arches National Park and the surrounding areas. Derrick, our tour guide and pilot, walked us out onto the tarmac to show us the plane and review safety procedures. This is when I realized just how tiny the plane was. It was only a four seater including the pilot! I have a fear of heights and of flying, so it was not an ideal situation. However, I took this feeling of reluctance and fear of heights and shoved it down as deep as I could and climbed into the back seat. I am not afraid to admit my fears but I refuse to let them cripple me.
Seat belt on… check… Head phones on… check… death grip on the pilot’s seat belt… check! We were off! I’m pretty sure we weren’t going more than 80 to 100 mph, but that little plane took off, no problem. First he flew us over Arches National Park. I’ve been up close and personal with the arches many times now. They are massive! The pictures just don’t do them justice. However, from up in the plane, they almost weren’t even recognizable.
One of the things I found “funny” about trying to locate the arches from up that high was that Derrick would point the wingtip in the direction that he wanted us to look. Every time he’d do this my grip would tighten on the seat belt and I’d lean in the opposite direction, trying to level myself out and compensate for the turning of the aircraft. After about the third time he did this, he asked me if I ever rode motorcycles. I explained that I had and he proceeded to use the analogy of riding a motorcycle to riding in a plane. He said that all I had to do was trust the plane and lean into the turn with the plane. Didn’t work for me haha! My father uses the example of riding in a boat. He says to think of turbulence of the plane as riding over choppy waters in a boat. Also didn’t work! I wasn’t falling for their mind tricks in this little death trap. “If I just lean the opposite way then the aircraft won’t go into a barrel roll.” I know how ridiculous that sounds, but it made sense in my head at the time.
Castle Rock
Derrick told us the story of Dead Horse Point, now a State Park, an area just outside of Moab that was used as a place to corral and capture wild mustangs in the 1800’s. Apparently, a herd of horses was left out there and they died of thirst. Hence the name, Dead Horse Point. He also told us about Castle Rock. In the 60’s, Chevrolet produced a commercial where a ‘64 Impala and a model were placed on the towering Castle Rock, about 2000 ft in the air, via helicopter. After they were done filming the commercial, the winds were too high for the helicopter to retrieve the model and the car. She ended up being stranded up there for hours until the winds died down.
These massive rock expansions in Utah are formed by erosion from the ever flowing Colorado River over 150 million years. Getting the opportunity to see the awe inspiring beauty of the terrain from 2000 feet in the air was absolutely incredible!
Below are some of the other pictures from the trip:
Just when I thought the tour was over, Derrick explains that he wants to show us something exhilarating to satisfy our thrill-seeking inner soul. My father and wife are absolutely enthralled by our pilot’s statement. I, on the other hand, am thinking, “I’ve seen ‘I Shouldn’t Be Alive’ and I know how this is going to end! As we fly over a plateau, Derrick starts losing speed and altitude. I’m guessing here, but I wouldn’t put us more than 200 feet in the air at this point. All of a sudden, he picks up speed and we soar out off the plateau over a canyon and what looks to be about a 1000 ft drop. Honestly, it all happened so fast and was so incredible that I didn’t have time to be scared. To see the ground just disappear from below you like that is quite the rush.
Derrick on the left and my father on the right.
Now it’s time for landing. There’s no one coming over an intercom telling you to put your trays and seats in the upright and locked position. There’s no flight attendant collecting your trash and strapping themselves in preparing for the decent. There’s no fasten your seat belt light that comes on during the landing. There’s no locked cockpit with a sign that reads, ‘Crew Only’. Nope! The plane just starts to slow down and drop out of the sky. I’m slightly exaggerating, just trying to paint a picture here. It was actually a very smooth flight with zero hiccups.
Coming in for a landing
Safely on the ground, I can say, that was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Derrick was an awesome pilot and a knowledgeable tour guide with an outstanding personality. I would recommend this tour to anyone vacationing in Moab. It was well worth facing my fear of flying to get an opportunity to view the canyons, fins, arches and the Colorado River from a birds eye view!