Crawling from the wreckage

[Iguanamom]

Hiked Mt. Waternomee Sunday in search of the wreckage of a crashed B18 bomber. The story goes that in January 1942 a bomber on recognizance mission over the Atlantic got way, way off course. The crew had never worked together before and weren't that familiar with the navigation system in the B18 and thought they were near Providence, RI. Low clouds and bad weather made visibility nearly nil. At the last minute the fog cleared and the pilot made a last ditch effort to pull up. It was too late and they crashed into Mt. Waternomee. Out of the 7 crew, 5 survived. The noise was heard in the nearby town and a frightened bunch of locals donned snowshoes and headed up, fearful of what they might find. Every year the survivors and family hike up to the site and clear the wreckage of accumulated leaves, branches and other forest debris. In 1992 a commemoration plaque was installed and a US flag always flies.

1 of 2 engines -


1/2 a wing -


landing gear and various under carriage structures (yes, the mountain is really steep)


cracked open wheel hub -


The debris is scattered over a couple of acres and is really difficult to photograph well. Most of it looks like this -


There are a few more shots on Flickr for those who can't get enough. All taken with the E-30, ZD 12-60mm and a polarizer by a thoroughly tired photographer. And then I had to get back down. Luckily there was a huge waterfall on the way and I could cool off and get recharged.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Great post, I love the story that goes with it.

[Ridgetop]

Great post. I often hear of stories like that in different mountain regions but never actually find any wreckage. It's amazing anyone survived that impact.

[Iguanamom]

Thanks guys. It was a little arduous getting there even though it isn't remotely a tall mountain, just steep and rocky. If the survivors & friends didn't keep clearing it every year, it would have all disappeared decades ago.

[Frog]

It wasn't all heroes in battle that died in that war and I'm glad someone still remembers them.

[Photo-John]

Cool post and photo outing, Iguanamom. Thanks for sharing. You didn't get a photo of the flag did you? I'd like to see that. It feels like something is missing from your post now that I know there's a flag there

There's plane wreckage like this near a trail we ride in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco. I know you can still find it but I've always just ridden past the crash site. Next time I'm going to make it a point to hike around a little and check out the wreck. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Iguanamom]

unfortunately it was unbelievably humid and windless so the flag just hung limply against the sapling it was tied to. I think I might have some with it in the background, but you can't readily tell what it is.

old stuff in unexpected places can make for a good subject; go find that wreck!