The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits
Navajo Nation, Holiday Inn
12 Jul 2003
by Warren McIlvoy
When the Breakfast Club "crack" event committee met last November to
set-up this year's itinerary, one of the preconceived notions was, "go
north in the summer for cooler locations". So north we went, but it was
not much cooler. Kayenta was the target for the July event which is north--202
miles north, but at 104 degrees at about 1100, is not what I would particularly
classify as "cooler". More on that later.
Since the Navajo Reservation observes daylight savings time, I had moved-back our usual
arrival time by a half an hour to give us a slight margin for the late
arrivals. As such, this required an 0645 departure
time from
And speaking of Black Mesa, it is an imposing geological feature of
almost 8200', just a mere 4 miles from the Kayenta airport. Crossing the ridge line at about 9000' and then
trying to smoothly enter the traffic pattern, would
prove to be an inefficient endeavor. Instead, most of us opted to cross a
smaller, lower arm of Black Mesa that essentially runs from southwest to
northeast at a point of about 20 miles to the southwest. This allowed us to
follow the highway (State route 160) that runs between Black Mesa and
Once below the mesa ridge line, position reports
to the rest of the Breakfast Club gang, were no longer possible. Instead, our
attention was no focused on approaching the Kayenta Airport and
listening in on reports from aircraft in the pattern. The only down side of
this approach, is that aircraft departing
Kayenta to the south or southwest, must
also use this "canyon" as they would not be able to climb to an
altitude sufficient to clear the Mesa. So it is a case of keep a keen eye pealed
for opposing traffic. It is a good idea to announce your position in this
canyon on the CTAF for Kayenta to alert departing aircraft that you are over the highway
inbound.
After landing on runway 23, you must continue on the runway until reaching the
turn-off to the ramp area near the southwest end of the runway. There were a
number of other Breakfast Club aircraft already there with available parking spaces
becoming scarce. The last time that I was here, about 6-8 years ago, the old,
gravel runway ran parallel to the highway and ended at a small general store.
As I recall, the runway was very rough, like landing on railroad ties. The
restaurant in the Holiday Inn, was a good fifteen minute hike down the highway to
the west. As we walked down the airport access road towards the highway, I
could clearly discern the outline of the old runway that was now mostly covered
by sand and desert flora.
The Holiday Inn is just to the west of the
only traffic light in Kayenta and sits back just far enough from the highway, to not see
it until you get within a 100 yards or so. The
After breakfast, most of our group started the trek back to the airport that
included a stop at the Navajo craft shop that was along the way. There were two people
that were hampered a bit by knee problems so I inquired of the hotel desk staff
if there was anyone available to take some folks back to the airport. Darrell
Cornford, the Assistant General Manager,
volunteered his services but he only had a small pick-up truck that could only
transport two folks at a time. I said that would suit us just fine.
Now back at the airport, the tarmac was hot enough
to melt an ice queen. The thought about flying north in the
I could hear a couple of other aircraft following that same path with one of
them being the C-150. He was having a difficult time gaining altitude due to
the hot temperatures. I suggested to him that he hug the south side of the
canyon to take advantage of the same updrafts that I had used just a few
minutes earlier. I leveled-off at 8500' for our leg home but the smooth air in
the morning, had now become quite agitated. Holding
heading and altitude, was a losing proposition. To make matters worst, the air
temperature was in the mid 70's unlike the lower 60's that we have been
accustomed to. Other than the warm temperatures and the occasionally moderate
turbulence, the return flight was quiet and uneventful. Can the cooler climes
of the Fall be far away? I hope not.
The Kayenta Group
What's Next?
The August event for the Breakfast Club will see us making a "run for the border", well,
sort of. We will actually be going to
Click on the Kayenta link to view photos of this fly-in event.