2017 Southeast Trip; Part 1 (To Florida)

Back in May of last year I took a trip out to the Southeast region starting with Florida. Usually I'm not a fan of flying but my flight path from Fresno to my layover in Denver is one of the more scenic that I know of in the Continental United States. The snow pack flying east over over the Sierras and the Minarets region was massive after a stormy winter.

Mono Lake in the background and Crowley Lake in the foreground on the eastern slopes of the Sierras entering the Great Basin. Crowley Lake is a reservoir in the Los Angeles Aqueduct Project while Mono Lake is a large salt water body with volcanic islands.

The White Mountains at the state line boundary of California and Nevada. The high peak in the White Mountains is White Mountain Peak at 14,252 feet above sea level.

Traveling eastward into Nevada the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project could be seen to the north of Tonopah and US 95/6. The Crescent Dunes Project was completed in 2015 but was turned off-line for about a year after completion due to leaks in the molten salt tank.

There wasn't much to see in Utah and the Colorado Plateau due to cloud cover but upon entering Colorado I could see Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

There was cloud cover over Denver which meant for bumpy conditions but a good portion of the Front Range of the Rockies could be see poking above the clouds.

After a brief layover at Denver International Airport I bordered my flight for Tampa. There wasn't much to be seen out the window as the cloud cover was thick but it cleared up enough by Louisiana to see the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is about 24 miles in length which carries traffic from I-10 in New Orleans to US 190 on the north side of the lake. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway southbound lanes were completed in 1956 while the northbound lanes were completed in 1969.

After crossing the Gulf my plane landed in Florida and thus the Southeast began proper. This was a massive trip with about 3,000 miles planned in; Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

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