When Bill Bruce went up into the clouds and disappeared from the view of the other pilots in his Flight, for a moment the men in the planes following were stupefied. It took some time for them to realize why this seemingly unnecessary dangerous maneuver had been performed. Then they came to a point where they saw the mouth of the tunnel and they could visualize what was ahead. They had no time to question the motives or judgment of their leader, for the tunnel was in their immediate front and other planes were thundering in their rear. They had no choice but to follow Bill Bruce. If they tried to turn, they would run the chance of colliding with the following planes. So each pilot in turn zoomed his plane into the clouds.
The Siskiyou Mountains run almost east and west, separating the Shasta Valley from the Medford Valley. Their crest conforms for that short distance, almost exactly with the boundary between Oregon and California. The railroad winds and twists in all manner of bends as it makes its roundabout way to the crest of the range. To one flying above the tracks, the curves seem unusually abrupt, but there is no other route for the tracks to follow in crossing the mountains. The only alternative is an exceedingly long tunnel through the base of the mountains. The expense of such a tunnel would be prohibitive on account of its great length, while the tunnel now used through the crest is really a very short one.
The railroad passes between two peaks. On one side is Pilot Knob, a trifle over six thousand feet high and exactly on the border between the two states. This peak received its name from the old pioneers who used it as a landmark to guide them over the Oregon-California trail. It stands well above the surrounding mountains and has a peculiar shape which makes it unmistakable after once having been seen. On the other side of the tracks is Ashland Peak, seven thousand feet high.
Bill Bruce saw from his map that these two peaks were somewhere nearby, but their exact location he did not know on account of the clouds. In order for him to get down into the Medford Valley safely, he must pass between these two almost prohibitive obstacles. The sides of all the mountains in that area are covered with large rocks, which are interspersed with scattered trees. Such was the country over which Bill Bruce was leading his Flight through the clouds.