Name of fly-through:  Mountains

  Red line shows flight path

File Size:  203.1 Mb; web version:  10.7 Mb

Run Time: 2minutes,  14seconds; web version:  47 seconds

Window Size:  800 X 500 pixels; web version:   300 X 182 pixels

Vertical Exaggeration: 1.5

Flight Altitude:  Our flight starts at 800 meters (2,600 ft) above sea level and slowly climbs to 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) as we cross the Sierra de Salinas and Gabilan Range, then slowly descends to an altitude of 1,400 meters (4,590 ft) over Santa Cruz.

Distance Over Ground:  184 kilometers  (115 miles)

Average Speed Over Ground:  4,950 km/hr (3,090 mph); web version: 14,090 km/hr (8,800 mph)

 

Description of flight:

 We begin by heading southeast toward the mouth of Carmel Valley.  The northern end of the Santa Lucia Range is on the right (southwest), the Sierra de Salinas are in the middle and the Gabilan Range is in the distance on the left (northeast).  The heads of Cypress Point Canyon and Carmel Canyon are seen below the sea surface.

  Flying up Carmel Valley we can clearly see the bright green of golf course and country club development.  The broad Carmel Valley lies between the Sierra de Salinas and the Santa Lucia Range and is a structurally controlled feature.

 

 Crossing over the east side of the Salinas Valley we see well developed bajadas emanating from canyons of the Gabilan Range. Because these mountains are in the rain shadow of the Santa Lucias, they appear brown and dry.

  We cross the Gabilan Range, turn to the northwest and follow the trace of the San Andreas Fault.  Notched ridges and the offset canyon of the Pajaro River mark the linear fault trace.