Heading West: Your Invitation to the Backcountry

Saturday morning at 2:30 a.m., I woke my dogs from their slumber, loaded them and our belongings into the car, and hit the open road.

“Road? Don’t you mean the sky, Cayla?”

Nope. I don’t.

As cool and convenient as airplanes may be, their inability to pull a trailer full of your life’s possessions is a pretty significant limitation. Since I don’t own a Pilatus, I’ve been stuck driving for the last two days on my way to my new summer residence in Idaho.

And honestly, I don’t mind.

As much as flying has its perks and can get you somewhere in no time at all, I genuinely enjoy driving across this country. You get to see things you’d never experience from the air. 

Since I started writing this weekly Plane + Pilot newsletter a few months ago, much of the content has centered around my flying adventures in Texas. Pretty soon, though, you’re going to notice a shift. The stories will move from Texas flying to the adventures I’ll be having in the Idaho backcountry.

Texas served me well. It’s where I earned my instrument rating, developed incredible friendships, and created countless flying memories that I’ll carry with me forever. But as much as I appreciate my time there, it’s time to return to the place that truly speaks to my soul—the American West.

Last summer, I ventured to Missoula, Montana, where I spent six months. It was there that I experienced backcountry flying for the first time.

To say it had a profound impact on me would be a massive understatement.

After all, here I am again—20 hours into a 27-hour drive, sitting behind the wheel of my Subaru Forester, pulling a U-Haul trailer with my two dogs and most of my life in tow.

Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited to share the backcountry with all of you this summer through upcoming articles, newsletters, podcasts, and social media posts. Consider this your official invitation to let me be a bad influence. Maybe you’ll finally make that move you’ve always dreamed about, or plan that backcountry flying adventure you’ve been putting off for years.

Trust me—your life will never be the same.

As always, thank y’all for joining me on life’s crazy adventures. I’ve still got about seven and a half hours to go before I reach my summer home, so I’d better get back to the road.

I’ll catch up with y’all next week.