Alaska Day 16

Doug and Dwayne were up early and shortly joined by Shep and Ken for breakfast at our Talkeetna home, the Swiss Alaskan Inn. Then we walked to our airplanes and took off to the south. As soon as we were airborne and above the trees, each of us craned our necks to the north to see if Mt. Denali was visible or shrouded in the normal weather and clouds? To our delight it was clearly visible with hardly any clouds and excellent visibility some fifty miles away. :):):):)

But there was little time to enjoy the view at the moment, because Ken who was leading this morning’s flight, had made a quick turn to the north, put his flaps down, and called “short final for the Village Airstrip.” I quickly reacted by doing a S turn to get a little  spacing and followed him in close trail to a formation landing on the pristine, short, grass strip. Mainly due to Ken’s prop wash, perhaps exacerbated by the Susitna River, light winds, and the tightly tree-lined strip we had the most impressive wake turbulence  event I have ever experienced about 50’ above the ground! But some quick reaction with abrupt control inputs and we righted ourselves and touched down with a burst of power to increase control effectiveness. Seconds later we shut down, climbed out, and Doug surprised me by calling an impromptu aviator meeting and awarding me the “Maule Flying Cross” for the landing. :) After a short round of applause and handshakes, we forgot all about that, and reveled in the amazement of landing and standing on the very field Don Sheldon had departed and landed, on his many, many rescue flights of Mt. McKinley climbers needing help and Alaskan bush hunters or outdoorsman in need of rescue. If you’re an outdoorsman, aviator, or adventurer, Don Sheldon’s story, “Wager With The Wind,” is a must read. We enjoyed several minutes there just letting it sink in. :) Quietly chatting, and looking around at the strip, the river, and the town — all in the shadow of Mt. Denali, “The Great One.”

Speaking of Denali, it was time to climb back in and fly toward the mountain. The idea was for us to change lead a few times and each crew photograph the other plane in front of the giant mountain soaring to it’s peak at 20, 230’, the tallest on the American continent. It was a delight to just see the monolith on a clear day, and to have photos of our planes in front of it was special indeed.

In fact we kept making circuits in front of it, admiring it and taking pictures, when someone remarked on the radio, “We’re borderline late for our glacier flight!” Quickly we turned our flight of two and sped toward the airport, landed, fueled, tied down, and walked fast or jogged to K2 Aviation, and the appointed time of our chartered flight-seeing adventure to Mt. Denali, complete with a glacier landing on skis. Something similar to what Don Sheldon did hundreds of times on many different glaciers, often in less than optimum weather.

The smiling girl at the counter remarked, “You’re just in time.” :) We were handed our ice boots and directed to the briefing area where the pilot of our turbo Otter was starting his roll call and briefing. Soon we were airborne, climbing out in a beautiful red airplane perfectly matched for it’s mission with lots of power for the altitude and lift for the landing. Also the speed to cover the distance from Talkeetna to the mountain quickly before slowing to make many turns with awe filled splendor no matter where you looked, and then the beautiful glacier landing.

We touched down, deplaned and spent about thirty minutes in the rare air and rare beauty of Mt. Denali, now surrounding us, and still towering close above us. Far above us. It was quiet, peaceful, surreal. It would seem a dream if you didn’t see the others in your party milling around, gazing, quietly chatting about it, and two other bright red planes from the same fleet who by coincidence were there at the same time. Even so, it seemed like a dream to be there. Remote, on ice, towering granite all around, with friends, on a clear day. Amazing.

We had ample time to soak in the moment and soak in the grandeur. And at the same time we were airborne again too soon, as we all felt we could have spent hours there. Leaving the flanks of McKinley, we soared down glaciers through passes to the flat but rugged river valley below and back to Talkeetna, with a smile on our lips and in our hearts from having experienced something so unique, majestic, and special.

We enjoyed a late lunch/early supper, walked around the village some more, and returned to our lodging for the now customary card games, recounting the special day’s activities, and a good night sleep… north in Alaska. :):):):)



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