This is the last of this series I will be doing for a while. It is also the one I think I had the best conditions for this flight. Originally, I wanted to takeoff from a spot closer to the lake near just past the trailhead. However, when I got there I saw a sign that said "No Drone Zone." I knew something was not right about that since I know the rules of flying in areas like this. I had done my homework ahead of time. Yet, the reason I did not take off from there was I did not want a bunch of people asking me if I had seen the sign or worse calling someone on me. Basically, the sign refers to flying over the boundaries of a wilderness area. At this time, the wilderness area starts on the other side of the lake. I'll get back to this, but I had already checked my drone apps on flying in all the areas I had done so I knew I was legal.
This is Saddlebag Lake. I have shown a bunch from this area before. The conditions for this were amazing on a sunny day. About a month before this the area was covered with snow. In fact, I do not think the people connected with Saddlebag Lake ever officially opened because of the how long the winter was in 2023. So, the lake was really full. I have been here in the past (some past blog I showed early on) where the lake was really low and those times make it really sad around here.
The color of the lake was really beautiful.
Just past the end of the lake is Greenstone Lake. I have lots of good memories here. My dad, cousins, and friends have all fished this lake. If I remember correctly there is a least one big rock under the water that the water gives a green look to.
I had forgotten Mt. Conness was the one on the upper left. I thought it was the one front and just above the middle of the picture (North Peak). In any case, this was about my limit on the flight because the wilderness area boundary is right near Greenstone Lake. There was a little more I would have like to have done around this lake, but I did not want to take more chances of doing something stupid here.
If you watch the video you will see that I came back here again for a second look. The first time I took a bunch of pictures and just wanted to fly with the video uninterrupted the second time around.
On the way back, I wanted to get a few shots of Mt. Dana in the background. In the video, you can see someone hiking in the snow on the right side. This is about half-way back.
I was so excited about the conditions here that I told my brother we need to come back and hike the areas the following week. The next week we came back and the area was starting a major storm at the trailhead! I was so disappointed as we got closer to the trailhead. We just turned around. As I always say, nature does not play by rules!
This will be the last of the drone flights for a while. I had a few others, but maybe some other time down the road or I will redo them in different conditions.
Flying Over Saddlebag (Youtube Video)
