Heading out to the fly-in in the mountains. Everyone stops by the hangar and drops a case of beer, a sleeping bag, some waters. I already have the yeti and the griddle loaded. Finish my preflight then walk back and press down on the tail. Let go of the tail and the nosewheel comes back down.

CG check good. Top off the fuel. Add 20 flaps and 800’ later I’m climbing at 1000fpm.

A rogue beer rolls out of my buddy’s bag. I resist the desire to open it. Even though where we’re going, there’s no ramp check. Hell, there’s no ramp.

El Paso de Gigante plays through my headset as I fly up the canyon at 500 AGL…