No time to file a flight plan. It's on to Rawlins, Wyoming.
Leaving out of Rock Springs, I'm glad there is still a highway below me that leads to Rawlins. I find myself at about seven thousand five hundred feet indicated altitude, which is only about four to five hundred feet above the ground, flying the Great Divide Basin aka The Red Desert. It is such an arid land. The sky is now getting somewhat grayer as I begin to hug the highway. Now, it is "IFR - I Follow Roads." Visibility is not good. I know in a few minutes I will be crossing the Continental Divide, and I hope I can continue to see the highway and around anywhere so i can get on into Rawlins.
Not much to see on the chart as I look for certain check points on my route. I find myself looking this way and that as the ceiling gets lower and moisture is beginning to show up on the windshield. I open the side window to see better. I probably should have inquired about the weather before I left Rock Springs, but I didn't. Now, there are flakes of snow hitting the windshield. I hadn't thought about an alternate airport, and in this country, with this short fuel range, there is no alternate airport. "If I have to, I will land on the highway." I have no time to look at the compass. For that matter, there is no time to look at a chart. The snow is now beginning to get heavy. "Fly little airplane! Fly!"
I have no idea now of time and distance. I guess I never figured I would get in a mess like this.
At Rawlins, the airport should be on the east side of town, right near the highway. I will fly so close to the ground that if I can assure Rawlins, I can assure the airport. "Fly little airplane! Fly!" The snow is even heavier now. I can hardly see. I hope there is nothing higher in front of me than I am flying! A quick glance at the altimeter shows I am now about seven thousand indicated. "I must have went over the continental divide." I'm not sure if I even set the altimeter back at Rock Springs. Maybe, it is still reading correctly...
