Brenor Brophy wrote:

I just got thinking why would you be at 16,000' over the CA Central Valley ?
I like to fly high, normally 8,500' is my min altitude while, I'm flying XC
around the state, but the oxygen requirements keep me below 12,500'. Even if
I had oxygen on board - I would probably not use it until I had to get to
altitude. For example, If you fly IFR than many of the MEA's over the
mountains are going to force your to have oxygen.

Here in the northeast US, there was a lot of thunderstorm activity this
past summer. I fly a turbo Bonanza and when t-storms were in the
forecast, I often chose an altitude in the mid-teens, despite having to
suck on some O2, to have a better chance of spotting the build-ups above
the haze and/or low layers.


--
Peter