What a trip!
We just returned from our first family camping trip and in true A Plane Family style, we flew there. Monitoring aviation forms, one location came across the websites frequently, Cavanaugh Bay, Idaho. There is good reason this is a highly praised spot with families who come back often in the summer and return year after year.
We started planning for this trip about 2 weeks out. Besides doing our standard weather and airport recon, we also have to determine what camping items are required to for our proposed 2 night stay. Mama Pilot hasn’t done a lot of camping, The Little Dude has gone on 2 small overnights, The Plane Girl has never been, so we are all relying on Papa Pilot for guidance.
We have a standard list of things we pack for our normal trips and have added another section for camping. We are pretty spoiled because Cavanaugh Bay is said to have: Toilets, Showers, Sink, Microwave, Refrigerator, Picnic Tables, Fire pits and Firewood and upon our arrival we quickly learn that this is all true. Maybe we really set out on a glamping trip?
Our plan is to meet after work at the airport and get going as soon as possible, but there is something else we need to pack which we never have had to make provisions for before- food. Even though they have courtesy cars to get to the store, and a restaurant we still need food. The restaurant only serves lunch and dinner, but we still need breakfast and at least one dinner to have at the campfire. Also, What camping trip would be complete without smore’s?
On the morning of departure, we can’t seem to get the food part together before time to leave to work for us, oh well ,slight detour back to the house after work. That will push our landing time about an hour. We don’t want to land too late going over the mountains and landing at a grass strip. We get the food, the kids and load up the plane.
The car is full with the gear and it is time to load the plane. We pull out the weight and balance and compute where to put everything based on size and weight including room to put the kids. We grab some gas and we are off. 1:30 ETA. Once off Auburn, we get flight following from Seattle Approach and fly over the cascades at 11,500ft. We were delighted to have smooth air for our evening journey across the mountains despite being 90 degrees outside.
We start to approach the Priest Lake area, load the CTAF and plan the approach. No one else is on the frequency and it is about 7pm in the evening. We fly over once above the pattern altitude then come back around at and approach runway 15 from over the lake. The runway is 3000 feet long and Papa Pilot lands so soft on the runway with plenty of room to go. We taxi back and find a parking spot.
There is parking on the right and left of the runway. The parking on the east side is usually for commuters and the parking on the west side and the horse shoe on the west side is for the campers. We really aren’t sure of the normal procedure when we first arrive and end up parking on the east side. We walk across the runway and find the campground, but not the showers and toilets. We then walk south to Cavanughs Restaurant on the north end to have dinner. We’ll figure out the setup when we get back, its past dinnertime now and everyone is hungry and tired from a full day of work, and a flight across the state.
A short 5 minute walk leads us to the lake, a beach and the restaurant. They are pretty busy and we have to wait a bit to be seated, but over all the food was very good and fresh. We head back to the plane and start getting up camp, and settle in for the night. We learn there is a dirt path through the horse shoe that leads to the showers, toilets, refrigerator and microwave. Then we head to the camp ground area to roast a few marshmallows on a fellow campers fire before calling it a night.
It’s morning and we all slept very well. The combination of the soft grass and great sleeping pads made for a far better than average sleeping arrangement. We have a 6 person tent so we brought the pack and play for Plane Girl. This is the one thing we didn’t need to bring. She woke up cold in the middle of the night in a fleece pajama and a fleece outdoor outfit, so we put her in a sleeping bag with us, and she slept just as well as the rest of us that way. It was a relatively quite morning with no one taking off early and we woke about 6am with the sun.
Time for breakfast. We packed Eggs, precooked bacon, cereal, milk, bread, ghee, jelly to make eggs and bacon and toast on the camp stove. It cooked up well, but we were happy we brought the cereal in the plastic cups for the kids. We walk over to the “kitchen” area of the campground and help ourselves to coffee and a wall outlet to charge our power pack. We clean up the breakfast dishes in the sink and call the care taker, Allen (208-659-8198), and request a courtesy car for the day.
Our plan for the day is to go for a hike, grab some groceries and ice while out and spend the afternoon back in Cavanaugh Bay to hang out by the lake and let the kids swim and play in the sand before making dinner at the campground. The plan went off without a hitch.
The town of Coolin is about a 5 minute drive, Leonard Paul Store has fresh vegetables, shelf items, cold drinks, ice, beer and wine, clothes, but no ATM. We didn’t double check our cash before the trip. But there is another store about 15 minutes away, Tamrak, has everything as well and is substantially more commercial. Tamrak also had ice cream, and the elusive ATM. We needed Cash for the Courtesy Car which rus $5 per use and $.30 cents a mile.
Dinner in the campground was so easy. We brought skewers for the hot dogs and smores, a pan for the pizzas and there was a grate to put over the fire to set the pan on. One nice gentleman, Tex, even came over with a plate of fresh cut up watermelon and cantaloupe for the kids. We hung up all of the wet towels and clothes on the plane. Everyone seemed to go to bed by 9pm on Saturday as a few of the pilots had mentioned wanted to depart at 6am.
And there is was, 6AM time for aircraft motors to light up and start rolling, and lesson learned- everything we left out to dry on the plane, was now wetter than it was the night before from the evening dew. In hindsight we should have utilized the back vestibule of the tent for evening storage. We heard 4 planes take off before 7, but The Little Dude didn’t, and he snoozed right through them. Time for a quick campstove breakfast before reloading the plane.
The environment was so relaxing and friendly with a few planes coming in and out for dinner or lunch. it seemed like most of the people who planned on camping were in by friday shortly after 5pm. We will definitely be back to Cavanaugh Bay soon!
Please keep in mind that this is technically considered a backcountry airport and requires a different knowledge base than standard airport ops. Do you due diligence and if you’re not familiar with this type of flying, mountain flying, and/or operating from an unimproved airfield, find an instructor and get the proper training. Conditions change fast, and it pays to be prepared. It is also especially important to carry an array of emergency survival gear and know how to use it when flying in remote and rugged areas. Aircraft Spruce stocks various kits and finding one to fit your mission should be easy. This is some of the most rewarding flying one can do, but it is also some of the most dangerous. Train, plan, and be prepared.
lessons learned:
- We don’t need the pack and play
- We need smaller folding camping chairs to fit in the plane better.
- More ice needed in the cooler and frozen gel packs
- Bring Cash for the car and donation box
- Don’t leave things out overnight because they will be wet in the morning.
- Double check power pack (ours didn’t hold a charge)
- Arrive a a little earlier
