Navajo Peak, Ward, Colorado

The Perils of High Altitude Flying

Navajo Peak 13,409 ft.

At 4:25 PM on January 21, 1948 a two-engine C-47 airplane owned by the Civil Aeronautics Authority set off from Denver’s Stapleton airport on a routine flight to Grand Junction, Colorado, to test aviation radio communication equipment. Carrying a three-man crew, the aircraft faded into the western gray sky headed for what was thought to be unsettled but passable weather. The winter of 1948 was an especially harsh season and this day proved to be no different. Winds were strong and the sudden storms that haunt Colorado’s high country were waiting. Twenty minutes into the flight, Pilot Fred L. Snavely, 40, of Kansas City, Kansas, reported strong downdrafts and unexpected turbulence as the plane entered the high peaks region west of Boulder. The flight plan submitted by Co-pilot Warren L. Lungstrom, 28, of Leavenworth, Kansas, stated the crew intended to cruise at 14,500 ft. fifteen hundred feet higher than the peaks en route.

Aircraft NC-206 was in contact with the CAA communicator in Cheyenne, Wyoming, reporting in: “Read Cheyenne Radio loud and clear.” When the ground-based radioman in Cheyenne requested a position report, the flight responded, “We are approximately….” The signal abruptly broke apart and after a few pulses of garbled static the communication lines went dead.

The exact location of the C-47 would remain a mystery for four months until an air-based reconnaissance crew made a gruesome discovery in the high peaks just outside of Nederland, Colorado.

NAVAJO PEAK

Isabelle Lake with Navajo Peak in the distance.

Navajo Peak stands at 13,409 ft., the third highest of the Indian Peaks that dominate the landscape west of the Great Plains. The Indian Peaks range explodes forth from the less airy foothills of central Colorado and their lofty heights mark the eastern terminus of the Rocky Mountains. Navajo Peak appears as a wobbly pyramid that some giant of old has neatly placed a square block atop. From the eastern approach via Brainard Lake recreation area, Navajo can be easily recognized by the prominent year-round snowfield that graces the northern side of the peak. Rock climbers might be keen to notice the humorously named “Dicker’s Peck” just northwest of the summit block.

The standard way up Navajo Peak begins at the Long Lake Trailhead and follows the Long Lake trail until it splits into the Isabelle Glacier trail. Passing several beautiful aquamarine alpine lakes, the trail wanes as it comes to a high basin above Isabelle Lake at 12,000 ft. A small nameless pond born from the snowfields and glaciers bleeds down into cascading waterfalls that flow into the lakes below.  From this basin, one gets the first glimpse of the Class 4 gully that leads to the summit ridge. The third in a series of four gullies that scar the slopes west-to-east of the summit proper, “Airplane Gully” is the most common route used to reach Navajo’s summit—and the final resting spot of NC-206.

DISASTER AT 12,800 FT.

Douglas C-47 cargo plane.

When NC-206 had not shown up two hours after its assigned arrival time in Grand Junction the situation was declared an emergency. The Douglas C-47 cargo plane is the military equivalent of the DC-3 commercial airplane. Known affectionately as “Goony Birds”, these planes saw extensive service in World War II. Used primarily as cargo and transport planes, C-47’s gained fame as the aircraft that broke through the Berlin blockade. Sturdy, reliable, and adept at many functions, C-47’s continued to be instrumental in military operations through the Vietnam War. At a length of 64 feet and boasting a wingspan of 95 feet the standard C-47 could carry 33,000 lbs and a crew of six when fully loaded. Maximum speed topped out at around 232 mph.

A C-47 is not small enough to disappear off radar but there was no trace of the plane; within a few hours of losing radio contact ground crews began to fear the worse. Fierce weather hampered search and rescue efforts. Crews did their best to survey the mountains from Berthoud Pass to Nederland but their searches proved fruitless. Pilot Snavely, Co-pilot Lungstrom, and a third crewmember, aircraft inspector Ross C. Brown, 40, of Denver were declared missing and presumed dead. The CAA offered a $1,000 reward for anyone who spotted the downed plane.

It was not until May 24, 1948 that an aerial patrol saw the grim cadaver of twisted metal perched high on the slopes of Niwot Ridge. A ski patrol verified the recon and with great effort recovered and removed the bodies of the three airmen. Investigators suspect NC-206 hit an extremely powerful pocket of turbulence and got pushed down over 1,500 ft where the craft hit the top of the now-named airplane gully at 12,900 ft. Though the flight was only scheduled for 2 hours the craft had 8 hours of fuel in its belly in case bad weather called for rerouting. This excess fuel (very little had been burned when the crash occurred 20 minutes into the flight) combined with the brutal weather led to the violent crash that sadly ended the lives of all three aboard.

THE CLIMB UP AIRPLANE GULLY

A piece of NC-206 at the base of Airplane Gully.

The wreckage of NC-206 is not particularly easy to spot even when standing at the base of the gullies that cut down the slopes of Navajo. Those hoping to glimpse the ruins from afar are out of luck. It is not until cresting over a small hill nearing the foot of airplane gully that the shocking remnants of the plane become visible. What appears to be an aluminum wing with yellow paint and a large circular grate lay intertwined with 50 years of rockfall.

The couloir itself is made up of very loose, medium sized rocks and provides a tricky ascent—and somewhat perilous descent. Small bits of aircraft give validity to the theory this was a violent crash; pieces are strewn the length of the gully for almost a thousand feet. Even the passing of time would not strip a plane as viciously as the impact on that cold night in 1948. At roughly 12,840 ft. the main chunk of what is left of the cabin and front of the plane lies embedded in mountain with stony indifference. This parcel of wreckage is not just a few scraps of metal, it is a large bulkhead that vaguely resembles the plane in its previous incarnation. Many of the smooth rivets remain intact and the rusted fans of the engine resemble ghostly, mutated alpine flowers. Perhaps the most haunting presence is the blatant fact the wreckage lies roughly 70 vertical feet from the top of the ridge. Where the rocky heights give way to clear blue sky, one is left wondering the margin of error that may have prevented this tragedy. Even with 50 plus years of solitude, the deformed remains of NC-206 feel young as if the moment is forever etched in time high above the cities and towns of Colorado.

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The wreck at 12,840 ft.

Aluminum from the C-47 shines brilliantly in the early October afternoon sun. Leaving the wreckage in the covert couloir my partner and I traverse Niwot Ridge west to the exposed summit block. In late summer no ropes are needed but the last few scrambles to the summit are quite exposed and require use of handholds. Views from the top are expectedly panoramic and offer superb vistas of the surrounding mountains. I am filled with a subdued version of joy. I had not expected the carnage to be as alive as it was as if it were humming with the presence of the men who had lost their lives not far from where I stood.

The descent was a lesson in patience as the loose scree makes for a slow downclimb. Gropple snow begins to fall as we reach the area just above Lake Isabelle and it becomes clear how easy it is to misjudge space in a snowstorm.

The crash of NC-206 is a fascinating archive of the impartial nature of mountains tinged with an afterimage of sorrow. The wreck has been declared a historical aviation site and it is illegal to remove or alter any of the pieces that remain of the aircraft. The gully has an eerie essence to it and even those not moved by the crash still need decent climbing skills to reach the top of Navajo Peak.

For info on hiking Navajo Peak click here for Gerry Roach’s Colorado Indian Peaks paperback book.

For an online guide to Navajo Peak click here.

For the official crash report on NC-206 click here.

Niles Oien has a great NC-206 site complete with links to newspaper articles from the Rocky Mountain News and Boulder Daily Camera here.

For more information on the Douglas C-47 aircraft click here

James Dziezynski can be reached at james@ruhooked.com.