Flying up the Hudson

On Monday, September 21, two friends and I decided to go for a scenic flight at the end of the day. By the time we got into the air, there was only about an hour of daylight left and the shadows were growing long.

We departed Glens Falls Airport to the south, climbed to 2500' and immediately turned west to follow the Hudson River. As we continued to follow it, we ended up flying directly into the sun, which caused the river to turn into a brilliant silhouette.

We continued flying toward the mountains. The wind had been quite light all day and from the south, so I wasn't concerned about mountain wave activity. But I wanted to be high enough to have an out if my suspicions turned out to be incorrect. Fortunately, the wind over the mountains was very light and we experienced little turbulence.

We continued to follow the river, turning north at Corinth and descending as we flew upriver toward Luzerne. I wanted to get lower, so we made a gradual descent, getting lower and lower until we were well below the tops of the adjacent mountains. Flying below the mountains provided a spectacular view of the scenery.

Since the day was growing short, we had to decide how to head home. After following the river for a bit, I decided to climb up to 4500' so we could pass over the mountains toward Lake George. This gave us a great view of the lake. As we got to the lake, we turned slowly to the south and headed back toward Glens Falls. It was a nice, late afternoon view of the local scenery from a perspective that most folks never get a chance to see.

In a week or two, the foliage will begin turning. I hope the weather will cooperate so we can make some foliage flights. I think it might be a good season for the foliage, if the weather holds.