Coast-to-Coast in the Mooney M20J

Leg 20 - 10/14/2021 - Moab, UT (KCNY) to Santa Fe, NM (KSAF)

Leg Stats

• Time Enroute: 2.5 hrs
• Distance (direct): 257nm
• Distance (actual): 316nm
• Fuel Used: 22.8 gal

We departed around 3pm for our second leg of the day. I started by looking at the weather and considering what I had on the way in. There are effectively two north-south paths up to Moab, with very high terrain in between and to the sides. (That was above the cloud deck) The weather to the East was worse, and with fewer outs, so I decided that going west around the terrain (retreading our flight into Moab) before heading east to Santa Fe was the best bet, and I turned out to be correct. We had pretty clear weather that way and as we passed it, I could see that to the east it was indeed pretty sketchy looking. ForeFlight Hazard Advisor is amazing in this sort of situation, it made it much easier to figure out which routes and exactly which altitudes kept me safely above terrain. We enjoyed another absolutely gorgeous view of Canyonlands National Park on the way back south and east. Landing in Santa Fe was easy, with no drama except some fairly high crosswinds, which were no real problem. At the FBO we did our usual hotel/transportation research and settled on staying 2 nights and Ubering into Santa Fe, which was cooler than expected. Santa Fe has some very cool art galleries (that are well out of our price range!) and a great selection of New Mexican food. We tried Tomasita's and La Choza, which were pretty much a tie for us. Both excellent. We walked down Canyon Road (lots more art galleries), and had a pretty relaxing time overall. While we were in Santa Fe, I got a call from my boss that I was needed back in Orlando by Sunday morning, with it now being Thursday, and could I make it. I decided that the weather looked good enough that from Santa Fe to Orlando could be done in 2 days, so I could do it.

Trip Leg Navigation