Flight down south

 This weekend I went down south to visit my parents. A night flight down but a day flight back. As I flew north, we past Mt Shasta and the northern forest of California. The way down was in the dark so I couldn't see much but the city lights. I have flown this route many times and I know what I am flying over, and since I have driven this route as well, I know what the ground level view is too.

Being winter, the snow cover was just getting started, but the clear cut areas (logging) can be seen easily. The patches of open ground look like chips in the mountains, the snow makes the holes look better than if you see them from the ground. Seeing the clear cuts from the ground, just after they cut, it really looks terrible and you have to wonder if anything would grow again in such a torn up area. But by law the trees have to be replanted and of course they plant trees that will be cut again. The really bad thing is they plant a special fast growing tree that is not a native tree. The trees are engineered to grow fast and straight, this make is easier to cut and they will be large enough in a shorter time period.


Mt Shasta (Volcano) is always a nice sight on the flight. The sun being low on the horizon was casting a reddish glow on the snow covered peak. The flight is only a little over an hour but seeing the terrain change from valley grass lands and farm fields to forest and snow covered mountains is interesting.