Niel Levonius

Musician, VoIP Expert, and Pilot

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On September 30, 2001 Jennifer and I went on our first cross country flight together.  Our destination that day was Columbia, CA - an old Gold Mining town in the Sierra's, just north of Yosemite Valley.  We left from Q99 (South County Airport, San Martin, CA) and headed direct (via GPS) for O22 (Columbia) in a Piper Warrior II.  The trip was very pleasant, once in the air we contacted Bay Approach for VFR flight following.  I selected a cruising altitude of 5,500 feet to ensure any necessary obstacle / mountain clearances along the way.  O22 has an elevation of 2,200 feet - quite a bit higher than sea level!

One the way there we flew just south of Modesto, CA and over Lake Melones.

After landing in O22, we took a small nature trail into town.

The walk is less than 0.5 miles, and took us 15 minutes.  On the way, we stopped to take some pictures.

The historic part of Columbia is a California state park, and has several original buildings still standing.  As luck would have it, 9/30/01 was the California State Gold Mining championships.

The weather was beautiful - the skies were clear, and the air was warm.  There is nothing like enjoying a good ice cream cone!

When it was time to leave, we took the trail back to the airfield, performed our preflight, and taxied for the run-up area.  The trip back to Q99 was smooth and uneventful.  Once in the air, we selected a cruising altitude of 6500' and contacted Stockton Approach for flight following.