Anchorage II

Todays bear watching turned into a $600 nap for me, as we didn't see one bear over a 5 hour period. Some in our group, on another boat, saw quite a few bears. We did have a great flight, lunch and excellent weather. On our return flight we saw 4 moose and several seals. The best thing we saw were whales surfacing while feeding.

I added this picture, that I of course did not take...

Next stop...Seward!

Anchorage!

Leaving Fairbanks was quite a challange, as you can see the ceiling and visibility was very bad. We waited several hours for it to lift, then the weather improved, as we left the field went IFR. We flew about 400' off the ground for about 20 miles before the ceiling lifted. Along our route it was pretty good, but (as you can see in the next picture the mountains were obscured. All those on our trip didn't get to see Denali. What everyone saw was this (see first picture), but they should have seen this (second picture).

After our arrival in Anchorage we parked in the "aircraft campground", the route to the campground required us to cross a road that had a gate. There was a huge gate, like a toolbooth, that opened automatically and each plane taxied across individually. The drivers of the rental cars left to retrieve the cars and those of us who remained got a much needed nap.

Our lodging is at the swanky Millennium Hotel which sits on the shore of Lake Hood. Lake Hood is the largest seaplane base in the world and is also next to Anchorage International, it is not uncommon to sea a floatplane taking off at the same time as a 747. The hotel is a "pilots paradise" because the outdoor deck allows one to watch the seaplanes take off and land while enjoying a nice cold "Alaskan Amber".


For dinner we went to Phylllis's Cafe for crab legs. Phyllis's serves up huge portions of crab and only those who refuse to eat go hungry. I ordered 1lb that came in two crab legs. Joe Edmonson joined us for dinner, he and his wife have travelled from Alabama in their RV and have been gone since May 15th. We met Joe on our first trip to Alaska. At the time Joe walked up Frank Lewis was trying to make a picture of the group, Joe offered to make the picture (remember very few people in this group know Joe), Frank handed him the camera and I yelled "He'll steal your camera!" at that very moment Joe took off running with Franks camera. The look on Franks face was classic, he didn't even know what to do, he tried to chase him but didn't know where he went. We all got a big laugh out of this and of course Joe was an instant hit with the new group.


Sunday we go bear watching with Rust's Flying Service...

Fairbanks II

After some much needed rest (most of us slept 8 hours), breakfast and laundry we decided to tour. Our first stop was the Akyeska pipeline, more than half of the 800 miles of the pipeline are above ground. It was started in 1975 and completed in 1977, was privately funded at a cost of 8 billion dollars, it carries 1 millions barrels of oil per day which is about 5.2% of the US daily consumption. The above ground portion of the pipeline runs in a zig zag fashion, this allows for the pipeline to move on its supports and to help protect it from earthquakes.

Our next trip was to the Chena River Hot Springs. On our drive we saw 4 moose and some beautiful views of the Chena River. We arrived after a 50 mile drive at the hot springs and were rewarded with the smell of sulfur and a man made pool of hot water. We all expected hot water bubling naturally from rocks, we had lunch and went back to Fairbanks.

Tonight we celebrated Dads (now belated) 60th B-Day at Pikes Landing. This restuarant has a huge deck overlooking the Chena river, while were there a paddle wheel went by, several boats docked and a float plane landed. We had a great time teasing Dad with a very special birthday cake. Afterwards I stopped in the parking lot of our hotel and took a picture of this 1946 Aeronca, the plane isn't notable the time is. I took this picture after 11pm and not flash.

Fairbanks!

Departure from Whitehorse, YT was not what most of the pilots envisioned. Dad and I had seen this before, but not quite this low. We delayed our departure by about an hour after receiving a PIREP (pilots report) of 300' ceilings. On departure we took off in the opposite direction of this picture and then turned left, went around a hill to the right of this picture and then around to to what would be the front of this picture and the ceiling began to lift. I would suspect we were 500' off the ground. This is the way people fly up here, we even had to watch for traffic. As the ceilings lifted we had more room to enjoy the views as shown in the second photo. Dad and I dropped down by the Alaskan Highway to look for moose, but the only thing we got was comments from the rest of the group to not get mud on our prop.

We cleared customs in Northway where they serve a cheeseburger that is probably one of the best ones around. The price is a little high, but there is nothing around for miles and miles. This airport gets 6 to 8 planes a day for customs, so they got a real treat having 12 at once. We spent 4 hours longer in Northway than expected due to an airplane issue, but left after it was resolved. Ironically, as it got later, some in our group began to get concerned about daylight and become much more calm after I informed then it was light until about midnight and then only dusk until about 4 am.

We made the final leg into Fairbanks, loaded up our rental cars and went to the hotel. Everyone was so tired that we ate bar food, had some drinks and went to bed. We did not have a big birthday dinner for Dad, but maybe we can have one tonight. Today we will sightsee and relax.

Whitehorse (and lemons)

The flight to Whitehorse was work, we had rain and quite a bit of turbulence. Dale (our leader) decided to take a shortcut to save bumps and it worked pretty good. On landing the tower informed us that two RV's (kit built planes) were ahead of us and to watch for the last one that was yellow. Dale called "I have the banana in sight", apparently the RV driver was offended and responded somewhat tersely. Dale then asked that our flight be cleared for the "long" runway, which moved the RV's the small runway. Those who were ahead of us, were now waiting on the ground for us to clear the big runway...

The above picture is the "windsock" at Whitehorse, this old DC-3 will point into any wind over 3kts. After waiting for the second van (I might add Dad and I had our baggage on the first van, but got booted off) which was to be back in "5" and actually came back in "20", the remaining 17 of us piled into a 10 passenger van.

Whitehorse is a small town of 23,000 and is the largest nothern town in Yukon territory. Apparently it was founded in the gold rush days as a supply town, Jack London wrote about it referring to the Klondike. Today it survives on tourism and must be popular with Germans as the city tour guide is in English and German.

We arrived at our hotel to discover that our two reserved rooms was now one and that no other rooms were available. They were kind and comped our room, but the room is so small that we have to take turns passing between the beds. The hotel also comped our dinner, but Dad didn't receive his and had to eat after everyone else. Remember those lemons? I guess they caught up to us.

For now the wind is howling, there is light rain and 55 degrees. Tomorrow we head to Fairbanks and celebrate Dad's 60th B-Day (those of you who have his cell phone, give him a call about 5pm CST).

Watson Lake

Watson Lake is our first stop on a 693nm trip and will be our longest day. We are flying along enjoying 20 degree C temps compared to yesterdays 36 degrees C, the lower temps are helping keep bumps to a minimum, engines and tempers cooler The scenery is gorgeous as we are flying along a 75nm long lake with mountains on either side.

We are now at Watson Lake, it is partly cloudy and cool. It is such a relief to be in the cool and have our longest leg behind us (485nm).

Our hotel last night packed a lunch for each person, they gave us a choice of sandwich and drink, then included a piece of fruit. Dad and I opened our lunch bags to find two lemons...strange, maybe they thought we had scurvy (spl)

After fuel and food, onward to Whitehorse!

Quesnel!

Today we made the hottest flight that either us can remember. It was close to 100, bumpy and we couldn't use the A/C due to flying in the group. Everyone did well, but we are tired.

When we landed it took nearly 2 hours to fuel all 12 planes, including moving then to parking by hand. We now are riding in the taxi to town (there are 2 cabs for 27 people and bags).

It's time for a cold drink, dinner and some rest at thr Billy Barker Hotel and Casino (it looks like a riverboat).

Tomorrow off to Whitehorse!