Lunch at Skykomish State Airport

August 16, 2020 — After our loop around Spada Lake, we resumed our trip out to Skykomish State Airport (S88). It’s a beautiful little airport, lovingly maintained by the Paine Field chapter of the Washington Pilots Association. As far as mountain airports go, Skykomish is pretty forgiving — it’s only at about 1,000 ft elevation and has a 2,050 x 100 ft grass runway. There is an attached campsite, but unlike our trip a week earlier to Ranger Creek, we didn’t see anyone else until we were on our takeoff roll.

The temperature was picking up, and by the time we landed (around 10:30 am) it was close to 90 degrees. We set down at the parking area on the north side of midfield, and pulled out our picnic basket. There are two tables near the parking area, each set up strategically so that one will always be in shade depending on the time of day.

Growing up in Hawaii, I remember hiking into the mountains and being amazed at how silent it could be. I got a very similar sense here — sitting at a picnic table with a bit of food and drink in hand, the constant hum of humanity that I’ve gotten so used to was nowhere to be found. It’s hard to describe what that felt like. It was almost like I was in a bubble, or like I’d lost my sense of hearing.

We spent about 30 minutes there, before picking up and heading back to Boeing Field. The temperature (along with the density altitude) was rising rapidly, and we didn’t want to get stuck in the mountains. We followed the Skykomish River on the way back, and even orbited a beautiful waterfall just south of the town of Index.