Epic Alaska Adventure - Spring 2024

Leg 24 - 6/22/2024 - Page, AZ (KPGA) to Elk City, OK (KELK)

Leg Stats

• Time Enroute: 4.2 hrs
• Distance (direct): 592nm
• Distance (actual): 625nm
• Fuel Used: 48.4 gal

After all our sightseeing, my attention was now fully towards getting home. We were now close enough that I could imagine the following legs. I decided that we would try to get all the way home on Sunday, and given that we weren't able to depart Arizona on Friday and chip away at that distance, I wanted to make as much progress as possible on Saturday. On Saturday morning, the weather was still looking a bit dicey.

The forecast called for the major storms to wait until afternoon, and on closer inspection, it was pretty good VFR despite a little rain, with the overcast being well above 10k in most areas. I decided it was good enough to depart for Amarillo (our original destination), and if needed, we could divert to Durango or a few of the other airports as we passed the Santa Fe area. We got up extremely early and headed to the airport.

The FBO sits within the airport terminal area, and due to a miscommunication, it turns out the FBO opens only an hour after the terminal. So Katherine and Magic waited in the terminal while I went to fetch us breakfast at a drive-thru.

After the FBO opened, I returned our rental and paid our bill and we departed without delay.

Despite the early hour, the DA was already 6500ft, and it felt like it, especially with our full load of fuel. The views for the first hour would be amazing, beginning with a flyby of Tower Butte.

There is no shortage of interesting scenery as you head east from Page.

We also managed another flyby of (my favorite) Monument Valley before heading southeast.

There were localized blankets of low clouds in a few areas, but nothing widespread.

We had clear skies at 9,500 and 11,500ft as we flew towards Santa Fe.

We never even really encountered any rain at our altitude as we passed all the (very high) precipitation in the Santa Fe area.

We were making good time (slight tailwinds) and doing great on fuel, so I changed our destination to Elk City, Oklahoma, which sits at a lower altitude than Amarillo and would have no density altitude concerns for our hot afternoon departure. As we crossed into north Texas the weather cleared to scattered clouds.

I stretched our fuel and continued all the way to Elk City, where we landed.

I had a bit of trouble with the fuel pump, but one of the old airport guys helped me get it working.

There didn't seem to be a crew car available, so I elected to just press on eastbound.

Leg Photos

Trip Leg Navigation