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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Alaska Day 15

After breakfast in Seward, we packed up and took a short cab ride to the airport and our awaiting Maules. Soon we were airborne and flying north toward Anchorage and beyond to our destination for the next couple days, Talkeetna. We decided on a slightly different route than our ingress to Seward to see some new territory. But the scenery was just as beautiful and dramatic as we flew over Six Mile Creek and Hope Alaska before heading toward Anchorage.

We talked to Anchorage ATC, but they scarcely paid us any attention as we flew up against the mountains at low altitude and stayed east of their busy airline and military airspace. Once clear of the Anchorage area we turned our steady steads NNW toward Talkeetna. But we passed near Willow AK, and decided to land and look it over. It’s the largest of many typical airstrips with associated lakes or float plane bases in the area. There was also a pilot there we’d visited by phone who flew a Maule in his back country bush flying business. We’d hoped to meet him, but he took off as we were taxing to park. :) Oh well, we decided to dismount anyway and look the place over, which was worthwhile and interesting. 

Then it was north to Talkeetna. We flew over the town and area before landing at the newer state owned strip, but took note of the grass Village Airstrip Don Sheldon and others used in the past. We took a taxi to our nearby hotel which was easy walking distance to both the airport and, via a path thru the woods to Talkeetna. Once settled in we walked to the airport to arrange a glacier landing and Denali flight seeing flight the next day.:):):) Then we walked into town via the wooded path to explore and have dinner.

Talkeetna is charming, colorful, small, and vintage Alaska. Besides browsing the shops and looking over the restaurant possibilities, we visited the National Park Headquarters a few minutes before it closed. Then we wandered back to the Village Airstrip to look it over from the ground, planning to land our Maules on it the following day. It was something we both wanted to do to connect more with the rich aviation history that was birthed and lived out in Talkeetna, sort of a bush pilot right of passage.:) It looked fine to us, and we decided it would be our first stop the next day.

Then we enjoyed a nice dinner with beverages made locally by the Alaska Brewing Company, before walking back through the woods to our hotel and the evening card game. :) But we had a nice surprise en route — a nice view of an Alaskan Railroad train. At the edge of town where we joined our wooded trail, we crossed the tracks of the famous train from Anchorage to Fairbanks which stops in Talkeetna. We were lucky enough on this day to see, photograph, and experience it. :)

With our nightly card games in the history books, we nodded off to sleep reflecting on the wonderful trip, the wonderful weather, and wonderful times we had experienced to this juncture. And with keen anticipation, we reflected on what our next day in Talkeetna might hold, with it’s Denali discovery flight and a glacier landing on the mountain!  Also landing on the Village Airstrip and flying our own airplanes around Mt. Denali and the area?

Who might we meet? What else would we see? North … in Alaska?

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Seems with tires in AK, it's go big or go home! :)

Alaska Day 14

Today was to be a day of rest with little or no flying. The weather was splendid. The scenery was divine. At Doug's suggestion we had made the decision the night before to stay put another day, instead of flying somewhere north toward our next destination, Talkeetna. In truth it was just too beautiful to leave, even though we'd seen a good bit of the area the day before.

Doug who said this had to be a working vacation for him, said he could use the day resting and catching up on his many business duties and issues. To his credit he never missed a flying adventure, sightseeing activity, or meal with the group. :) He just wandered off to make or take phone calls here and there, and was up late at night or early in the morning using his mobile office of phone, laptop, and regular size computer screen :) to take care of business matters. His partner wanted him to have a satellite communication device so he could be reached, and we did, but that wasn't used too many times. All in all, it was a miracle he could join us for the adventure and we were all very happy about that! He was too!! He was a full fledged participant doing his share of flying and everything else.

But today he would devote the whole day to business matters from a beautiful location. Dwayne would take a sightseeing boat tour around Resurrection Bay to hopefully see whales and other sea life and glaciers from water level. And just be out on the water in the Gulf of Alaska which figures so large in Alaskan life and culture. Ken & Shep decided that they would fly to Homer for lunch, and flight see on the way there and back. We reconvened for supper downtown Seward and everyone had had a wonderful day. :)

Since we were on our own for the day, I can only report on some of the sights I saw and impressions from the boat. I met some interesting folks and had nice conservations here and there. I took every piece of warm weather clothing I had in my back pack and used it all at one time or another. :) I saw lots of wildlife and sea life. The seas were smooth, the coffee was hot from the galley, and life was good. That's a summary.

To be a little more specific, we saw sea lions, eagles, puffins, whales, otters, and many other sea birds of the north. And when we arrived at the glacier destination for calving, we almost immediately saw a huge, huge mass of ice fall from the glacier crashing into the sea below with a monster splash. We were reasonably close but the boat was still running and slowing to a stop to drift, so I didn't hear it. Then we drifted about 30-40 minutes with no other calving observed. But it was very pleasant and awesome to just be there. And the sunny day we had with unlimited visibility could not be taken for granted. When I looked around I saw a major water fall gushing out from beneath the glacier maybe ten feet above sea level. It was probably a hundred feet across with a flow of many thousands of gallons a minute I'm sure, and I'm also sure, very, very cold. :)

We Passed the Wizard of "Deadliest Catch" Fame

In fact there were waterfalls all around running down cliff faces from glaciers. The sea was emerald green with big chunks of white ice floating all around and out to sea. Certainly something you don't see every day and I couldn't even imagine properly without being there.

At the end of the day we met at our hotel rooms, took a taxi downtown to a highly acclaimed halibut and steak restaurant, and after dinner walked back to the harbor and our hotel home for the night. Over the delicious dinner everyone shared about their day, and life certainly was good... north in Alaska.




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Lunch and Hanging Out - Homer Alaska

The Salty Dawg Saloon Since 1897- Homer AK

Framed Again... Alaskan Style

Alaska Day 13

Doug Refueling at Soldatna

We were up early, checked out, and met the only taxi in town who our hotel owner had arranged at her own expense to drive us to the airport, a short distance away. We loaded up and did our preflight inspections, which were by now a shared and a well orchestrated affair, allowing us to be airborne in a very timely manner, and flying over Kachemak Bay.

Kachemak Bay is a 40-mi-long arm of Cook Inlet, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia, and a few others dot the bay and enjoy it’s beauty, serenity, and abundant sea life.

Kenai River at Soldotna 

After Homer, we enjoyed the smooth air and beautiful sights of the peninsula as we made our way to Soldotna and our 9 a.m. appointment with the nice folks at MarcAir to have our oil changed. Normally we change our oil every 35-50 hours, and we left with a fresh oil change. But we had already reached that mark, and would reach it again by the time we arrived back home. Such was the magnitude of this flying adventure. :) But this morning that was a minor, but necessary consideration on our minds. We where also glad to support MarcAir, who does Christian ministry work among native Americans in Alaska, and glad to receive their support of our flying endeavor.  It was Ken’s turn to lead the flight, and Dwayne took advantage of the relaxed flying and smooth air (we had smooth air the great majority of the time in Alaska) to practice close formation flying, which is a joy all unto itself. Especially to four aviators with fighters in their flying DNA. :)

We dropped off our planes and were informed the maintenance would only take a couple hours. So we left the airport and after a longer than usual drive (inside joke) found an excellent breakfast place we could all agree upon. :) The exact location of which, we are all under oath not to divulge. :)

Then we stopped in at the visitors center in Soldotna for a look inside and a scenic stroll down the newly constructed board walk along the Kenai River. The silver salmon were still running, albeit a bit slower than peak, and we talked to a few anglers who had nice strangers of the tasty fish.

Flight to Seward

Back in the air, and having experienced so much beauty already, I don’t think any of us were ready for the beauty we were about to experience flying into and arriving at our destination for the night, Seward Alaska, at the the head of Resurrection Bay.

 May the following pictures speak to you thousands of words. :) From ... Alaska.

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"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T. S. Eliot