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May 1st, 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of my first time leaving the Earth in an aircraft alone. I had been planning a flight over the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite into the high desert, and conditions on 5/1 were perfect. Below are my photos from the trip.

Sorry about the lack of detail (especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains) – the side windows on my airplane are crazed and in need of replacement. Soon, I promise.

Set 1: Flying over the Sierra Nevada Mountains via Mammoth Pass:

Set 2: Flying from Bishop, CA to Beatty, NV over Death Valley:

The desert photos are my favorite. I have to go back there and explore some more. The world is just different out here, compared to the forest and field covered Southeast.

Edit: If you’re wondering, here’s (roughly) my route of flight: http://goo.gl/atBjz

So apparently there’s a Ghost Town nearby!

I took the Cessna 172 up to Lake Tahoe just to see some snow. I didn’t have the Canon with me, so these shots were taken with my HTC Evo phone.

It’s time to take the Cessna in for annual maintenance again. Yippee!! It was a beautiful day, though, so I decided to take the scenic route from Palo Alto airport (KPAO) to Livermore, CA (KLVK) via the Golden Gate Bridge. I snapped some photos along the route: