Let's Go Flying: Kern Valley to the Western Mojave Desert

Dan flies his Cessna Cardinal 177RG from Kern Valley Airport southeast to Red Rock Canyon and Antelope Valley to view superblooms and immense solar and wind power farms.

This film is of a wandering adventure of discovery into the beautiful and surprising western Mojave Desert in California. This early spring flight starts as a pursuit of wildflower blooms in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and nearby desert, but then meanders into a profusion of fascinating places - colorful badlands, ancient volcanic fields and incredibly large green power installations - much more than you might expect! Close approaches to terrain are enhanced with glorious QHD video. Geographic features are labeled for the pleasure of identifying points of interest and learning about the region.

Launching from Kern Valley Airport, we fly southeast toward the Scodie Mountains and then south to Jawbone Canyon and into the Mojave Desert. From there, we take a side trip over Red Rock Canyon State Park and Last Chance Canyon. Resuming our southbound heading, we quickly encounter the Honda Proving Center, the vast Springbok Solar Farms and the giant Mojave Wind Farm. We take another side trip to check out the bloom at the Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve and we encounter the even bigger Solar Star Solar Farms and the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch along the way. All of this is while flying over a verdant and flowering desert looking as you may have never imagined possible.

This is shot in glorious, multi-camera 2.7K HD, so be sure to use the highest resolution setting you can for your maximum enjoyment.

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#aviation #flying #cessna #avgeek #aviationphotography #pilot #airports #explore #southerncalifornia #superbloom #sierranevada #solarenergy

0:00 Introduction
1:29 South Fork Valley Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains
6:41 Red Rock Canyon Red Rock Canyon State Park
9:25 Last Chance Canyon Red Rock Canyon State Park
10:43 Ricardo Campground. Red Rock Canyon
12:45 Honda Proving Center Cantil, California
13:04 Springbok Solar Farm Springbok Solar 1 & 2
14:09 Antelope Valley Western Mojave High Desert
14:43 Solar Star Projects 574 MW - 3,200 Acres - Powers 255,000 homes
17:24 Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 230 MW - 2,100 Acres - $1.4 Billion Cost
18:26 Tejon Ranch Eastern Tehachapi Mountains Foothills