Today’s hike is another exploratory hike. We are going to the site of a B-17 bomber which crashed in 1941. We have nine of us on the hike today. Along the route, we will briefly stop to read some excerpts of the history regarding this wreckage.
We have a small stream to cross. There is a large pile of logs and rocks that make it easy.
As we continue along the trail, we drop down through beautiful moss covered trees. We stopped for a moment to hear a bit of the story of the incident .
“On October 31st, 1941, a B-17C, Tail No. 40-2047, also know as the "Flying Fortress," started a routine flight for a change of their No. 3 engine from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Sacramento, CA. After a two day stopover in Reno due to bad weather to the west, they departed late on the morning of November 2, 1941 (based on the weather observations of a United Airlines pilot flying in the area) on an instrument flight to their destination.”
Today once again I find another large shell fungi attached to a tree.
“The plane was piloted by Leo Walker. With his knowledge of an eminent crash, he remained at the controls, allowing the eight other members to parachute out. They were able to walk out to safety. Leo was found deceased behind the controls two days later by forest rangers searching for the site. The crash was November 2, 1941.”
Some of the lessons I learned on my PCT hike was to scout out areas that have a difficult path or river crossing. This small stream is a great example most of the group sloshed through the water, while just 10 feet away was a logged providing an excellent crossing
As we arrive at the main fuselage crash site a somber mood over comes us. There are two American flags hanging on the wreckage.
We found a PVC tube and remove the cap to find more historical information
Following the main crash site, we opted to bushwhack to smaller sites where wreckage is still visible
We have found another section of wing this one has the army air core star somewhat preserved on the underside
We continue on with more bush whacking. I find another group of cool looking mushrooms.
Our third artifact location is just a small piece of aluminum on the hillside
Our fourth site is a section of the fuel tank. Down through the access hole, we find a rubber bladder still intact
Following a quick lunch, we had a very short walk to our fifth site which is a tire and landing gear strut
After a another short section of bush whacking, probably our most intense of the day we arrived at site number six one more section of wing
Leaving the last wings section we had one last short cross country section to the main trail and began heading back towards the cars.
I’ve come across more impressive fungi growing on another log as we near the end of our hike
We arrive at the parking lot have logged a very short, 4.1 miles much less than we normally do, but much of this was off trail and adventure. It made for a great day.
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