It was last October 1. I had been planning to go to Idaho for a week of backcountry flying and camping. The morning I was to leave, it was raining consistently, overcast, with the clouds obscuring the tops of the ridges 1000' above the runway and 3/4 miles away. I decided not to go. But, after an hour or so of waiting, it looked like it was lifting, and the TAF's along the route for the first 200 miles was good and improving as the day progressed. I took off, made the turn down the Colorado river toward KRIL, made the turn north following HWY 13. About 20 miles later, I ran into a wall of white all the way to the ground, I was about 200' above terrain with a relatively easy turn around over the highway which was about 800' below me. I turned around and headed home, the colors of the fall were impressive as I returned to KGWS. I had no longer opened the hangar door to put the plane away and the sky opened up with heavy rain and the clouds settled down to about 500'.
I waited it out another hour or two, I don't recall, but the clouds lifted again and the forecast once again looked good along the route. This time I did not run into a wall just south of KEEO, but I was skimming the bottom of the clouds in smooth air getting 150mph over the ground at about 800agl. I kept on going in what it is relatively known country to me, after crossing the Green River, the ceilings were dropping a bit, I kept looking behind me, I had an out to the east, I was also keeping track of the roads below me. I was only mildly concerned, because in that area there are quite a few places for a 180 with Bushwheels to land. But, I had to keep turning right away from my course to avoid the wall of fog/ clouds to the ground, I was now nearly heading east and crossing the high points at about 150' agl. Finally when the break it looked like I had closed up, I decided to turn around and fly to KDWX, maybe 60 miles east. But, I turned around and there was no opening there anymore. I looked down from about 300' agl and saw a gas line service road. I made the first pass just below the clouds to check for signs and wires, and other obstacles. The second pass was at about 20' to get a better look and assess the wind. The road was about 12' wide with deep, steep bar ditches both sides, not a big deal, but the 15 knot crosswind added a bit of challenge to it. I am capable and was mildly concerned, and I had no other choice, on the third pass I landed.
Over the next several hours it rained non stop with ceilings between a couple hundred and maybe 800'. I checked the weather at all the nearby airports, I was only a 12 minute flight from Rock Springs, but they were reporting overcast 600'. At one point I convinced myself that the weather was improving and I took off to head to DWX. I got in the air and then could see that I was in a hole, in all directions the clouds went to within a couple hundred feet. I had marked my road where I had landed, just in case, but a finger on a phone screen doesn't locate a point accurately. I flew circles around, looking for the road that I had landed on, looking at others that were now standing water. Finally after about 15 minutes of circling at 200 to 300' skimming the bottoms, I found my road again. Landed again in 15 knot crosswinds.
After that landing, I cracked open a beer. The flying day was over. As I sat there and sipped my beer from the left seat, the situation I had put myself in became very clear. Stupid decision after stupid decision. It was very humbling, as I set up camp in the back of the plane and crawled in my sleeping bag.
I am instrument rated, but not current. I could have climbed into the clouds and gotten a clearance to get into KRKS, but, I wasn't current, maybe competent, but probably not. There was also the issue of icing, it was high 30's on the ground, it wouldn't have taken much of a climb to get into icing. My options were limited. But, I knew that I could land on a road, gas line, or simply "flat" high desert. I knew I was pushing the limits, but I always had the option to land off airport, I kept looking behind me and thinking I had a good out. I had noticed that I was getting pushed lower and lower to stay below the clouds, but I pressed on. The forecast for RKS was overcast 6000, in reality it ended up overcast 600'
Its not likely I will put myself in that position again. I haven't felt that stupid in a long time!
