HORSESHOE VALLEY

    I was about 10 feet above the raging river water and side slipping the hell out of my Super STOL aircraft hard to my right. When my tires were over solid ground I chopped the power and dropped the plane in pretty hard and had to just about stand on my brakes to slow it down. I then released the left brake to make a hard right turn out into the edge of the open valley. That mountain wall that was in front of me was looming right before my eyes. When I finally got stopped, got out to see what I had just done, I was amazed that my left-wing missed the trees at the edge of that mountain and both wingtips were still intact…no green rubs from the little pine trees. However, my tire tracks began just 10 feet in from the edge of the river bank and my skidding right turn was measured at about 45 feet. That was cutting it way too close, but I made it. Now my thoughts were how was I going to be able to take off. I needed to climb out over a small baby mountain that had 50-foot tall large pine trees on top of it. So I had to do some investigation of the ground and distance, but hey! I'm here.

    Now I am not normally that much of a daredevil when it comes to backcountry flying, but I found this hidden valley in northern Idaho on Google Earth Pro satellite mapping quite by accident one afternoon. I used the measuring tool to get a rough idea of how far major obstacles were and if there might be enough room to touch down and get to a stop. So on my next cross country flight to the aircraft factory in Wyoming, I gathered enough camping equipment and extra safety equipment, should I need it, and left early the next morning for northwestern Idaho. After the last fuel stop, I headed to the grid coordinates that would put me over top of that valley. This valley was well hidden as there were no roads up on top of the mountains that surrounded the valley on three sides…the river bordered the open side of the horseshoe. The back of the horseshoe, the rounded part, was right up against the granite mountain wall, and that entire back area was covered up by dense cottonwood trees.

    So the location and the layout seemed ideal for a fly-in campsite, and one that would be very difficult for anyone getting into that valley without a helicopter or parachute…only us backcountry flyboys would attempt such a feat.

    I did a couple of flyovers to determine if it was possible to even land my Super STOL aircraft in that valley. I flew down low just above the raging river water to see how stable the air was down that low. I could see a small opening between the small baby mountains that formed along the edge of the river. The gap was at about a 45-degree angle to the river making for a difficult side slip maneuver to wedge my plane through that opening. There appeared to be about 200 feet between the edge of the river bank and the towering granite mountain wall and trees. There was a small creek next to the mountain that was in the background. Then there were the small pine trees on either side of the opening that looked like there might be just enough space between them that my wings might make it without damage. But despite my better judgment that day, I did manage to make it without a scratch on my plane. But that location was not one in which I would care to make any more landings there. I needed a better location as there were just too many variables with that one.

    The prairie grasses in the open part of the valley were about 4 feet high and would hide anything like large boulders or tree stumps/trunks. There was a small stand of live trees out in the middle of the valley and some dead trees that have fallen over, so my guess was that there might be some obstacles hidden in the grass. So before I attempted to taxi the plane to the back of the horseshoe, I walked back the 400 feet or so to the back corner of the trees and to the 600 to 800 foot tall vertical faced granite mountains. The cottonwood trees were very large and had grown together to form a very dense overhead canopy. It was very cool under those trees. I heard the sound of splashing water and walked back to the left corner and there I found a small pool of water with a waterfall coming out of the side of the granite rocks up about 10 feet high. I said to myself this is perfect…but I still wondered about that takeoff. You can land these planes at a much shorter distance than what is needed to take off. I walked out from under the trees and over to my left to get a good straight line of sight looking back out towards the river and those tall pine trees up on a hill. So I walked out in a straight line looking at the ground on either side of me for obstacles. I found a few and pick up some and dragged some debris out of the way and made my way out to a point that would be about the minimum lift-off point and still be able to clear those trees. I walked back in a zig-zag pattern looking for more obstacles and removing them as I found them. I went back to where I first walk in and did pretty much the same thing back to my parked plane. Once I had made a couple of trips back and forth, I got in the plane started it up, and taxied back along my trail to the back of the horseshoe and what would be my camp for the next few days. That prop sure did a nice manicure job on those tall grasses.

    Now I have to admit that I had done quite a bit of Google Earth mapping investigation of this valley before coming out here. I could measure potential landing and take-off locations and even go down to street level and look back at the take-off point and measure the height of those tall pine trees that would be my major obstacle to get over. I calculated that those trees sitting on top of that baby mountain were about 100 feet tall from ground level. Adding in the clearance of another 100 vertical feet, which would make it about 200 vertical feet required. So my horizontal distance from those trees would be about 200 feet, making for a 45-degree angle of accent. So I had a really good idea of what I was in for except for that first landing. I had not a clue as to what I would be in for as to that landing, as I could not see that 45 degree horizontal opening between those small pine trees, and exactly how much landing distance that would be available.  I could see that there might be a space there but needed to see it up close and personal. I guess that was why I named this place Horseshoe Valley.

    After getting my camp set up for the night ahead I explored more of the back of the horseshoe where all of the trees were and thinking about what it was going to take to turn this location into a fly-in camp. 

    The next morning I got up and stepped off the take-off a 200-foot distance from the face of that hillside and planted a small dead tree in the ground to mark where I needed to put my plane into a steep take-off climb. Fortunately, my plane has a very powerful motor that is supercharged so it produces all of its capable horsepower at this high-density altitude of about 9600 feet above sea level. Engines that are not supercharged or turbocharged lose nearly 30% of their horsepower at higher altitudes. My highly developed special built engine can produce well over 400 HP with just 4 cylinders, and even more when the supercharger is activated. I can’t reveal just how much HP potential this engine can produce as yet. This new engine design will be highly sought after once it completes and passes all FAA testing. The added bonus of this new engine design is that the time in hours between overhauls, TBO, could be possibly increased by nearly 90% when the engine is properly maintained.

    So now it's another do-or-die situation…the takeoff. I got in the plane and warmed up the engine and taxied over to what is now my backcountry takeoff runway. I taxied up and back to cut down the grasses to mark the runway. I performed all the pre-flight tests and said OK LORD…here I come. I was really hoping not to meet up with Him on this day but I had it covered. Steeping hard on the brakes and powered the engine up to 2500 RPMs, released the brakes gave the throttle full power, and began my roll. I'm waiting to see 35 MPH ground speed come alive and looking at that dead tree sticking up and coming at me hard. I got to 40 MPH very quickly, pulled back on the stick, and at the same time brought in the full flaps, and off the ground, she jumped and held that climb rate of 2000 feet per minute. By releasing the flaps once off the ground, I quickly built up the airspeed to clear those damn pine trees. Well, obviously I did clear those trees, otherwise, you would not be reading this story eh!

    So now my next dilemma was to find a better landing location, as my heart just would not take another landing like the first one. Landing where I took off is really the only option. However, like the first landing, once you have committed to it there was no going around. The very tall granite mountains that form the back half of the horseshoe are not forgiving. When you get down to the last 25 feet of touching down, that mountain straight ahead is well over another 600 feet above you. Once again I am about to make another hair-raising landing but this time, at least, I have a clean line of sight of what’s in front of me. When I stepped off the take-off distance I had about 200 feet to pull up into a steep climb to clear those pine trees. Trying to reverse that same situation doesn’t work very well. First I have to get my speed down to about 35 mph, which is just above the stall speed of the wings, to barely clear the tops of those pine trees. Once I have cleared those trees I would need to push the nose over into a steep descent to the ground. This would increase my airspeed. Once I was about 20 feet off the ground, I then would need to pull back on the stick and level out, and then pull the nose back to quickly reduce the airspeed. This would have me about 5 feet off the ground and then raise the flaps back to level and just let the plane drop in and rely on those big tires, stout landing gear, and soft ground to smooth out the jolt. One of my innovations for my plane was to relocate the batteries out from under the seats and install an airbag between the seat frames and the floor of the aircraft to further cushions hard landings. This is how this type of aircraft operates in off-field landing sites. In landing a 'SUPER STOL' airplane, you are trying to reduce airspeed while maintaining level stable flight. So that same 200 feet used for the takeoff is actually much less but still very doable... if you can get your wheels on the ground with no more than 100 feet from that planted dead tree that I used as a takeoff marker. Like I said before, you can land a plane in much less of a distance than it takes to take off. The grass will slow down the plane once on the ground, ya just need to get down on the ground as quickly as you can after clearing those tall trees. There is not enough room to power up, make a hard banking u-turn, and fly out of there for a second attempt. This place is a one-shot in and out. The only maneuver that might get you out of there would be to go to full power and pull up into a full vertical loop, and once at the apex (top) of the loop, rollover to level flight in the opposite direction. This would get you 180 degrees from the direction you were intended to land and headed back out of the valley, hopefully. This would be a very dicey maneuver as you first need to make that decision, then power up to gain airspeed to be able to pull into a full vertical loop without stalling out. This is where that supercharger comes into play developing all of that horsepower...still very dicey. Not sure I would normally try such a maneuver unless I was in dire straits.

    So now it's time for that landing. I ran all of the things I needed to do when I needed to do them and had my plan. So after I took off I did a large circle and got lined up for a gap between 2 trees that was my spot target. I did my plan and it worked perfectly, in fact, it worked much better than I planned. I still had lots of room to roll out to a stop. So a couple of more take-offs and landings with trying not to be so white-knuckled about the landing, I got much better at hitting my marks ( not literally hitting ) and became much more comfortable in taking off and landing to the point where I was now very comfortably confident.

    For the next couple of days, I wore my brain out, thinking about how I could turn this place into a fly-in camp. I made quite a few photos to go along with my sketches of what could be and where things would go. I had great water, cold and mountain pure since it came out from the underground. The water in that little pool was gin clear but way too cold to even think about bathing in it. The major problem with getting materials in here was first due to overall size constraints of storage space in the plane and then the weight. Planes don't fly the same when loaded down in weight, but all I need to do was land and the weight would no longer be a factor. I had more reserve power for heavy take-offs that they would not be a factor. So everything that I thought up in my head and put down on paper had to first be built at home and then broken back down into smaller parts and reassemble on sight at the camp.

    So let's fast forward a bit here to one year later. My original plane was sold to a friend of mine that I met up in northern Florida, my home state. His dad had a Piper Super-Cub about 10 years back. They used it on their large cattle ranch, landing on the half-mile-long driveway leading to the storage barns and ranch house. I met John Montgomery and his brother Robert one day while flying over their ranch and seeing a windsock on the top of one of the barns and that really long driveway. I just had to stop in and say howdy. They must have thought I was a bit crazy flying low over their place, rocking my wings, and then circling back around and landing. 

    So a great friendship began and one thing leads to another, I sold those two brothers my first original plane. It was also a Super STOL design with a 180 HP engine and very capable of short take-offs and landings. It was a tandem type fuselage...pilot in front of the passenger. A nice design but had not much room for baggage and camping equipment.  When you move the passenger forward alongside the pilot you have all of that space more of your stuff. Since I was the only sales/demonstrating representative for the aircraft company that built both of my planes, we/our company was able to make some drastic changes to John’s plane…almost a total rebuild that incorporated many of the new design changes that are now incorporated into the new plane. The new aero package was added and engine work was done to boost the HP up to about 265 HP. The only major difference was that my old place was, like their dad’s plane the Piper Super-Cub. The side by side is slower at cruise speeds as the fuselage is wider with a bit more wind resistance but the big test engine made up for that and it could carry much more weight in cargo and fuel. The only major problem with John's plane was fuel capacity as it only had 20-gallon single-wing tanks and no auxiliary wingtip tanks. If his wings ever needed to be recovered, then those changes would be made at that time.

    Now I had to teach John and Robert how to fly into the Horseshoe Valley Camp. We took one of their cow pastures and set up marker cones for the start, take-off, and touchdown, and full stop locations. We used helium balloons to approximate those damn tall pine trees that had to contend with. They both plowed thru quite a few balloons, but eventually, both could take-off and land right on the marks. I did much the same to a couple of the guys at the plane factory, as they had a private airstrip at the factory in Wyoming. I am not a CFI (certified flight instructor). I was not teaching these guys how to fly, I was teaching them how to take-off and land in extremely very short distances. If they could not perform HERE, I was not going to let them try out THERE. At least flying HERE, you have the ability to go around if you screw up. Flying out THERE and you screw up you could end up in a pine box.

    So a little description of how the camp turned out after the first year. Three large cables were strung between the trees to form a tent top over the large fire pit. A second tarp was set up and connected to the central tarp to provide cover over the 5-four-man tent area. This was to not only keep the rain under control but also the snow. A third tarp was set up over the very large cook area that also connected to the main campfire tarp. The very large cooking table was complete with sink water and running water from the little pond. The pond water was filtered for drinking, cooking, and coffee. The area under the cooking tabletop had 4 large lockable storage bins bolted to the framing. Each locker held the ground tarps for the tents, the tents, and all of the cooking equipment and assorted staples. We ran another cable between the trees which served as a guidewire for both the outhouse and shower stalls. The outhouse was on a movable skid with a new hole dug when moved. The privacy curtain was mounted to the skid frame so all you need to do was slide the skid over a few feet. The shower was built much the same although it didn't need to be moved. It was an above-ground wooded rack that made up a shower stall complete with solar water bags for hot shower water and in the winter months, a propane heater water tank and 12-volt pump/tank were used for those toasty hot showers. We spared nothing…if you could think it, build it, and unbuild it at home and then haul it in and set it up…great go for it. The oversized 10 man campfire pit was lined with rocks from the river and even had movable racks for Bar-B-Qing and keeping the coffee pot warm. There was no shortage of firewood in this valley. This camp was well used but it was limited to 5 planes and 10 people at a time which rarely happened. We had all of the trout fishing, good hunting, and just plain great camping with no other people but for us. We never saw signs of anyone in our camp but we had a sign up that said you are welcome to use this camp but do not damage or take anything because you are on-camera. We knew that you could not drive there or hike in because of those high granite mountain walls. You might be able to come by water when the river is not running so violently. There were no animal trails observed entering into that valley that we saw. So helicopter and Super STOL and well-seasoned pilots are pretty much the only way in and out, that is unless you want to skydive in. But then you would have to swim out and the nearest sand/gravel bar was over a mile downstream and that water was very cold.

    Even the best of the best camping locations will have a time when things go badly. This event occurred when John and I flew in on my plane for a 5 day camp out of fishing the river. Like I have said before, I have never seen any animal trails along the river but we both knew that we are not the highest of species on the food chain in this part of the country. Grizzly bears are and often are seen in the surrounding areas of the Idaho Mountains. We have talked to other campers that have had run in’s with these guys, but they were camping in vast open areas. So to be on the safe side and have peace of mind, we have always set up empty cans on a string wire around the camp at night, which is a very effective way of knowing that something large has entered your space. We have instilled a few things to never do and the main one is to never have any kind of food items in our tents…that is a complete no-no in bear country. Even chewing gum will give off a scent that bears can pick up on. So only bottled water is allowed in the tents. All other personal hygiene items that have any kind of scent to it must be left outside the tents.

    So one night, John and I turned in about 11 pm after the fire had died down some. We always leave a few logs to burn through the night. It was about 3 am when I heard the cans rattle…John heard it too and both of us immediately got our guns out. I have a 50 caliber auto handgun and John keeps his auto 12 GA riot shotgun with the first 2 rounds being whistler shots as a noisemaker backed up with 6 rounds of 3-inch slugs. Then I heard the bear at the backside of the tent on my side so I eased over to the center. I motioned to John to just sit tight and not make a sound, but we both knew that the bear knew that we were in there…it was just a matter of time as to what was he going to do? I could hear the bear breathing and grunting as if to try to smell us and I thought that it was only a matter of a few minutes before he was going to come through the side of that tent. I motioned to John to slowly unzip the front of the tent while the bear was still at the back. I had my 50 cal aimed right at where I thought he bear was just in case I needed to make a quick decision to fire or not. I motioned that John go out first and go to his right and I would follow and go left. We did just that and I think that the bear did not hear us get out of the tent. I motioned by hand signals for John fire to fire off 2 rounds of the whistle shot right over the top of the bear, in hopes of scaring off that bear. My handgun has a light under the barrel and when I heard the first whistle shot go off I turned on the light and had my gun aimed at where I thought the bear was going to come up. At the second whistle shot, the bear stood upright on his hind legs and was towering over us what seemed like at least 5 feet. The bear let out a very loud growl and started to move in my direction on his hind legs. I did not want to shoot that bear but that growl and his movement towards me was more than I was willing to risk that he was only bluffing. He was one about 10 feet away and much too close to us for bluffing. I aimed at his mid-chest and fired 2 rounds in quick succession. The bear staggered back a bit but was not going down, so my third shot was right in the skull above the eyes. The bear fell over backward and was dead almost immediately. A 50 cal. bullet at that close range is a very devastating bullet and the very reason I carry such a large caliber handgun.

    John and I just sat down in our chairs by the fire and didn’t say a word. We just reflected on what had just happened. It seemed like hours before we spoke but I’m sure it was only a few minutes. I asked John “What in the Hell Just Happened?” After a few moments, John said I think we just killed a very large Grizzly bear that was about to attack us. I asked John did you shoot him?, John said no there was no need and that I did all the shooting. We made coffee and waited until daylight to go over and look at that bear…it was enormous. I estimated that it was well over 1000 pounds and we measured the height from the feet to the top of the head at over 10 feet. I said that this may very well be a state record, but we needed to be very cautious as to how we proceed in calling in the authorities to report what happened here last night.

    There is no cell phone signal down at the base of the Horseshoe Valley camp. You have to fly out and gain altitude to make a call. We talked over what we were going to say as to what happened and how to protect ourselves in the killing of this bear. John said he would stay behind and I fly out to report the incident.

    So I took off in my plane and got up to about 4000 ft and made a call to the local US Fish and Wildlife Service in Idaho. I asked to speak to the officer in charge and the receptionist said that would be Jessie Anderson who was in a staff meeting and it would be another hour or so before the meeting would end. I briefly told her what I needed and I thought that this situation needed to be heard immediately and that I was in my plane and could not be reached by cell phone if I landed. I politely asked her to break into that meeting and tell Jessie what I need to talk to him about. The next voice I heard was Jessie’s and I briefly gave him my story and that the location was going to be kept secret for now, but I would show him where we were after he met me at a gravel bar on the named river. I said that I need to protect myself and my friend and that I wanted a letter from his office on official letterhead and with his signature stating that upon inspection of the scene that neither of us would be prosecuted for the killing of this bear, which by the way was a protected species in that area of Idaho. I asked Jessie to bring a state photo ID to verify the letter’s signature and that they would have to come in by helicopter with a heavy lift capability. I mentioned that I estimated that this bear was well over 1000 pounds. Bring the maximum manpower because you cannot get over the top of the bear to drag it out to an opening with the helicopter because of the heavy canopy of the trees. We agreed on a time that I would meet up with them and I gave them the grid coordinates of the gravel bar where we would meet up. I asked Jessie are you good with this and he said yes.

   When I landed, John and I just looked at this huge animal and wondered how, why, and where did this bear come from. It was getting close to the time of the meeting on the river so I took off and flew the mile or so to the gravel bar where the helicopter had already landed. It was now around midday when Jessie and I met. Jessie gave me the letter and showed me his ID to prove who he was. I gave him my ID and handgun permits and told him I was just trying to be cautious with this situation and he agreed I was doing all the right things. Jessie mentioned that a large bear had been seen in this area and tearing up camps but had not run into people as yet. I told Jessie to get into my plane and for the helicopter to follow. I took off and headed back and made that landing into that difficult location to Jessie’s total amazement. The helicopter followed and landed right behind us at -the camp and we all walked into where the bear was. The tent had tear marks that I never heard the bear do or did I see initially. John indicated that the bear was differently going to join us in our tent if we hadn’t gotten out when we did. Jessie and his team had never seen a bear that large before and that he was certain that it would be a state record if not a US record. We all had all we could do with the 6 of us trying to get that bear out into the open where it could be rolled into a rope sling and then attached to the helicopter. The pilot was worried that they would be way overweight. I said that I could take three of his people and fly out and follow them to their location.

    The helicopter lifted off and got up in the air OK and we took off and followed the helicopter to their office which was not that far away. Jessie and I talked all the way back as to what are the next steps and that I was concerned about the publicity that would ensue. Jessie said not to worry that our camp location and names would not be given out. We also gave them our ripped tent. Part of that conversation on the way back had to do with what will happen to the bear. I said that I would like to see it be taxidermied and put on public display somewhere. Jessie agreed and mentioned that his brother-in-law was a very good taxidermist and in fact immediately made a cell phone call to have him meet us as soon as we landed.

    The bear weighed in at 1227 pounds, beating both the state and national US record by over 200 pounds, and measured in at 10 foot and 8 1/2 inches in height, also beating the state record by over one foot. John and I had taken photos of that bear earlier that morning but decided not to mention anything about this incident to anyone for now. It was too late in the day when I got back to camp to pack up and fly out. We would not have made it back to Wyoming and the aircraft plant before dark, so we set up another tent. I’m sure neither one of us got much sleep that night. The next morning we decide to continue on with our camping plans and fly out in a couple of days. I mean, what are the chances of a second bear coming along looking for its mate??

    It was about a year later when I got a call from Jessie Anderson from Idaho’s US Fish and Game Service requesting my and John’s presence at the dedication ceremony of that magnificent Grizzly Bear and to tell our story of his happy ending. You see after the complete autopsy was done on the bear, it was determined that he had suffered from a deliberating brain disorder, and as it were, John and I were instrumental in saving that bear from intense suffering. So John and I agreed that it was time for us to tell this story to the public. 

    John’s plane was at the factory in Wyoming having more upgrades done to it, so he and I flew out to the factory from Florida in my plane. We then flew both planes to Idaho and called ahead to Jessie about our arrival time. The grassed landing area alongside the parking lot was well within our plane’s landing and take-off requirements. When we arrived overhead we were not ready for the number of people standing outside to watch us land. There must have been over 200 people watching us come in to do one of our STOL landings.  We did a backcountry short landing in less than 50 feet to the amusement of the crowd. We got out and went inside for the ceremony which really turned out to be a great event. There was of course the local press as well as some magazine editors wanting to hear our story about this bear.

We went inside the office to see the bear exhibit that was done in memory of this bear.   The exhibit was in the corner of the room and an artist came in and painted the 2 walls behind the bear in a natural setting and they had set up our ripped tent in a wilderness setting. It looked a bit too real and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight out and a chill came over me. 

    Jessie began his speech about Grizzly bears in general and sometimes they come upon people in the backcountry and how we need to be very cautious. Jessie went on to say that this bear was a new State and US record giving its size in weight and measurement which astounded the people. Then Jessie mentioned the fact that the autopsy showed that this bear had suffered a brain disorder and must have been in tremendous pain.  The taxidermists did a great job of the mount. The bear was standing with front legs and claws out with his head tilted and mouth wide open as if in a growl. This is what a real angry bear looks like. It definitely lifted the hairs on the back of my neck for sure. John said he also felt a very weird feeling seeing that bear this way. They even had our tent in the 12-foot x 15-foot nature display showing the rip sections at the back of the tent. Jessie then introduced John and me to tell our story of this tragedy of having to take this bear’s life that night. John and I both told the events sharing what we had talked about when we sat down that night by the campfire. Jessie gave the accounts of our first meeting and the struggle to get the bear airborne in the helicopter. We met the taxidermists that performed the work on the bear to make him look very... very real. Too real.

    John and I agreed to stay the night for meetings with the magazine editors who wanted more information that John and I said we would not say where our camp was located. Some of these editors wanted to go out to our camp not realizing the difficulty in doing so. We did not give our last names, only initials, and did not say where we lived. We gave only temporary emails for further contact. We did the photo opt thing for the press but refused to show our guns. We did give them some of the photos we took that morning of the camp and the alarm system we used which most probably saved our lives that night. 

Afterward, John and I felt really good about the entire dedication ordeal and how that grizzly bear will be honored for many years to come. John and I named him “Ole Horseshoe”.

Note: This is a fictional story.

J. Michael