Chasing waterfalls

by RAJEEV PANDEY

My wife Sheri loves waterfall hunting. She loves to hike into a waterfall, soak in the views — and maybe the water — snack and hike back out. She’ll even let me accompany her and take a selfie with her and the waterfall to memorialize the occasion. That’s the good news.

Now for the bad news: She hates driving. Long drives sap her energy, leaving little in the tank for the aforementioned waterfall hike.

More bad news: She has basically exhausted all of the local waterfalls within a less-than-exhausting drive distance.

But now for the best news: When I jumped into co-ownership of a 1976 Grumman Tiger recently, I was put on notice that in order for the plane to move from “toy” category to the utility category, it would need to help resolve the driving distance dilemma for her waterfall hunting hobby.

I have been a private pilot for nearly 20 years, my certificate a graduation incentive/present from my wife for finishing gradual school (normal people call it graduate school, but they aren’t “ten yeared” like I was).

Until the windfall Grumman co-ownership opportunity last year, I was a “putter in the pattern” renter, rarely leaving Oregon’s Willamette Valley. I was rescued more than once from inactivity thanks to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Rusty Pilot program, because work, kids, and life sure have a way of getting in the way of currency.

With the kids now in college, I hoped airplane ownership would help me stay current. My instructor advised me that the Grumman was more of a “go places” airplane than the Cessna two-seater trainers that occupied the bulk of my logbook entries, so I needed to have places to go. I turned that issue over to my wife.

Our first waterfall hunting adventure in the new plane was only the second flight with me for my wife. While our children were small, she was not keen on flying with me. We also weren’t sure if the motion sickness she felt while on cruises would carry over to flying.

As an experiment, we went on a breakfast date in my new toy to a wonderful on-airport diner called the Starduster Cafe at nearby Independence State Airport (7S5). This allowed us to make sure she was comfortable in the Grumman while keeping the flight short. When the breakfast flight got her thumbs up, we decided to move on to a little longer flight with an overnight stay.

For our first waterfall chasing flight, my wife identified nearly a dozen waterfalls in the Umpqua River Valley that she wanted to see. This area has several of Oregon’s most scenic waterfalls in relatively close proximity, including the Grotto, Susan Creek, Toketee, Whitehorse, Yakso, and Fall Creek Falls, among others.

I have also always wanted to see the Colliding Rivers, which is exactly as the name suggests.

Being a World War II buff, the fact that we could land at Roseburg Regional Airport (KRBG) made the trip even more enticing.

As of 1998, the airport has also been known as Major General Marion E. Carl Memorial Field, named after a legendary Marine World War II ace, test pilot, and Vietnam vet, who retired with over 13,000 flight hours as a major general to the Roseburg area. He was tragically killed at the age of 82 protecting his wife during a home invasion.

My wife usually likes us to get a nice hotel or AirBnB for our jaunts, with the primary selection criteria being creature comforts like breakfast or a hot tub. While searching for our temporary residence, I found an amazing AirBnB, Aviation Suites, right on the Roseburg airport.

When I say right on the airport, I mean RIGHT on the airport. The patio is on the runway side, floor to ceiling windows in the living room look out on the runway, the tie-downs right outside your suite. I was able to preflight for our early morning return flight in my PJs before waking my wife.

This made our first plane-based trip super easy — especially when you throw in a great FBO, Western Oregon Flying Services, and rental car arrangements that had an SUV suitable for waterfall hunting parked on the tarmac awaiting our arrival.

How was the trip, you ask?

Many waterfalls visited, many selfies taken, in a weekend filled with relatively little driving.

I will also mention that my wife made me promise that we would return to Roseburg to hit all of the waterfalls we missed in this go-around.

Between you and me, I think she skipped some on purpose, but I’m fine with that approach. My toy has moved into the utility category for my wife.

I caught her pouring over her waterfall map, and she asked how far the plane could take us. Now there’s an interesting question…

Rajeev Pandey is a private pilot with nearly 500 hours logged. He owns the more expensive half of a 1976 Grumman AA-5B Tiger, based in Albany, Oregon. He celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary in 2023.