On NOT making it to Williams Lake

The plan during reading week was for the ILRU team to take a trip up to William's Lake (Esketemc, to be precise) to finish off the validation for the next report.   I headed out early to the airport, hoping that there would be enough light by the time we took to the air to get some good photos out the window.   Cloud cover was thick, so i was not totally hopeful.  And then i miscalculated in my seat selection, so ended up with a good slice of the wing in my view.  Ah well. 

early dawn at the Victoria airport

If I tried pointing the camera behind me, I could at least catch a few shots of all the amazing islands between Victoria and Vancouver, through little breaks in the cloud.

overcast, but still magical

Here is a 30 second video, taken a few minutes into the flight: https://youtu.be/5sRyWLszdaA

The break in the clouds filled back in once we got to Vancouver (where we waited for the next plane).  Again,  I  did not get a window with a clear view.  Still, I was hoping for some great photos over the mountains, but the rain did reduce visibility.  It looked pretty much like this:

Well.... given the limited visibility depriving me of the view I sought, I decided to try instead enjoying the view I had.   So..... close ups of the rain drops?   They did have their own beauty (and strange capacity to reflect and invert. 

 

Unfortunately, the view didn't really improve once the flight got off the ground.  Indeed, the pilot warned us that we were flying into a bit of a blizzard, and we might or might not actually be able to land in William's Lake.  Crossed fingers?   Too many clouds.  The moutains were completely invisble.  At least the little raindrops did transform themselves, giving me yet another view out (of?)  the window:

As we feared, the visibility sucked.   We circled around for a bit while the pilots tried to figure out if they could spot the runway but.... they couldn't.   And so, they flew us back to Vancouver. 

After some back and forth with some of Jess's contacts in William's Lake about the weather situation, we decided to just call it a day, reschedule for better weather, and head back home.   Still cloudy and rainy, but....no snow!  And that view between the mainland and Vancouver Island just never never disappoints.   Felt sad to not have arrived at Esketemc, but seemed better to be safe than sorry.   

Maybe not the most productive day but.... even on a misty cloudy day, it is still a world full of beauty.

And here is the last minute or so of the flight, over the water and onto the landing strip in Victoria.   I don't ever quite get over it [pardon the pun... of course I am "over" it, but i am sure you get my point! :-)]  As Lou Reed says, "a perfect day".  https://youtu.be/bWqr4JbrH9o