Photos of the Day -- Remembering Fall

 

The last two weeks in Wasilla would make even the most stable individual doubt their choice of zip code.  It blew an average of 40 mph for eight days straight and the temperature held steady at 12 degrees on the thermometer.  I love my state, but sometimes I despise the tenacity of our weather patterns.  It's like our weather gets stuck in a rut, like a cd with a scratch that keeps repeating a 2 second phrase.  This is a good deal when it works in our favor with sun or snow, but it usually repeats wind in the winter, and rain in the summer.  

As soon as the wind started to diminish this afternoon, my brother and I took off in the 185 to go cruising.  We took a beating getting out of the wind tunnel and into calmer air, but once over the mountains it was beautiful.  Winter is great, but tonight I was looking at my photos from this past fall and I am looking forward to the next yellow and orange season.

Photos of the Day -- Weddings, Web Guys, and Weather

I had some friends in town this week so I had the opportunity to get out and spread my wings a couple of times.  The weather has gotten clear and cold for us Alaskans.  My sister-in-law got married this past Sunday and I think the high for her wedding day was -10.  All of the guests that flew in for the big event got a taste of the "real deal" as the cold temperatures were unrelenting.  The cold weather did not keep us from dancing our brains out and making fools of ourselves on Sunday night.  It did finally warm up to 12 above on Monday, but only because the wind started blowing 40 mph.  

One of the Blue Ice Aviation web-design dudes, who made this whole website/blog thing a reality, was able to make it up for the wedding.  It was great to get him and his girl-friend out on a flight Monday morning before the big winds hit ... that's him in the bunny boots.  Unfortunately the other web dude was not able to make it because he is on the other side of the pond, but if you have any web design needs give these guys a call, Side Project Co. is the best!  I took these shots as I was flying high over the Chugach Mountains.

Fat Tire Photos From America

A friend of Blue Ice Aviation sent me these awesome photos today.  They were taken ... well, I don't know exactly where they were taken, but they are from a flight on Tuesday the 10th.  Thanks for sporting the Blue Ice Aviation hat Brad, and thanks for the great photos!

Photos On the Fly-- Crusin'

Sent from my iPhone

Photo of the Day -- 8000' Over the Talkeetnas

I was flying direct from Palmer to the Black River and this was view over the Talkeetna Mountains.  The Talkeetna Mountains top out at nearly 9000' with Mt Sovereign.  On the far horizon you can see the Chugach Mountains.  

This was in April of 2011 and I was headed out to a remote camp.  April and May are difficult months to operate because the seasons are changing and conditions are generally horrible for tires, and worse for skis.  I am equipped with hydraulic wheel skis but they have definite limitations as the tires are just itty-bitty little things and they generally leave me lacking.  Any tennis ball sized rock tears up the tails of my skis as the hydraulic actuator can only lift them a couple of inches off the ground.  Tennis ball rocks may sound big to some of you, but in the land of pumpkin sized rocks they are small and hard to dodge.  I was uncertain about the landing strip at the camp, but fortunately they had plowed the snowdrifts down to gravel so I could land on tires rather than bounce my head off the cieling over the snow drifts.  After we departed the camp we flew to Eureka and landed on the lake for a greasy Eureka Burger, and thankfully did not get stuck in the overflow.

Photo and Video of the Day -- Valley of the Giants

 

I know I've talked about this lake before, but it's my favorite thing in this world besides my iPhone.  OK, that was sort of a joke, but God's imagination is truely awesome.  It's called glacial lake outburst flooding and it is the cause of all these stranded icebergs.  This massive glacial lake drains in 48 hours and leaves behind a frozen waste land in the middle of summer.  I've hiked through this valley of icy behemoths in 70 degree weather as they are crumbling to the ground in the afternoon heat, and it is indescribable.  I have also included a short video I made a couple of years ago showing the lake before and after it drained.

Photo of the Day -- I Think It's Steeper Than It Looks

We landed here for the first time to scope out sheep hunting possibilities.  It's a no-name glacier that feeds the Tazlina Glacier and this location is no longer landable.  This portion of ice has become so side-sloped that landing on it now would be a one way trip.  Side slope is not bad to operate on if you have good footing, but side-sloped ice is a good reminder for why we have aircraft repair shops.  This runway was actually quite a bit steeper than this photo lets on.  So really we were landing on a hump, and right in the middle there was a boulder the size of a Buick.  It's funny, the more I describe this landing site the more I hate it.  I remember now that as I dodged the boulder, the side-slope increased the ill-handling affects of the ice, and that might be where the stain on my seat came from.  It's been a few years and we have not been back to this place ... I think I'm glad.

The Other Side of the Coin

For anybody who might mistake my life as an endless flight of perfect weather and beautiful scenery, remember that every coin has two sides.  There are many aspects of this job that I never share on the blog so tonight I will offer a small glimpse of the "other side".  This evening I found myself stuffed in the tail cone of my "parts only" 185 fuselage at -15 degrees with my fingers froze to my wrenches, and my lips froze to the aft bulkhead while removing a cable and pulley.  If you would like to know what this is like, cram yourself into an 18" aluminum tube, at -15, and try to milk a hamster. It'll give you a snap-shot of the other side of my coin.  I still think it's a great job.

Happy New Year Photo Dump! Favorites of 2011

The classic approach to entering a new year is to look back at the past one.  So here are 54 images from 2011.  Thanks to all who flew with us this year, visited the blog, bought a hoodie or hat, or just enjoyed some of the photos through Facebook.  We would not be doing what we are doing if it was not for ya'll.  It was a great year, and I expect 2012 will be just as good. Thankyou much for your support!  Enjoy the pics, Lord willing there will be many more in 2012.

Ali enjoying the Pilot's seat.

High in the Talkeetnas.

Still high in the Talkeetnas looking at the Chugach.

Toe of the Ruth Glacier, Alaska Range.

I can't remember where this was.

Getting passed by my buddies in the helicopter.  That's as fast as I could pedal the Cub.

Skiing at Alyeska with friends.

Secret powder stash in the Chugach.

Summer Clouds on Pioneer Peak.

Skiing with a buddy in the Chugach.

Dropping of some bear hunting friends.

Refueling in Lime Village.

Taking a break in Koliganek.

Hanging out with the caribou on Kemuk.

A rotting seal burried by bears on the beach.

Whale vertebras and ribs.

Beach combing on the Nushagak Penninsula

A small walrus half head-set found on the beach.

A walrus skull with some of the small ivory still intact.

Sharing fuel with the helicopter in a rain storm.

Lake Clark ... not an ugly place.

Short break during a long work day.

Picking up clients in the Talkeetnas.

Ali getting comfortable with the controls.

Samantha and Ali basking in the Alaskan Summer sun after a short hike.

Ali helping me on a re-supply near the glacier.

Hanging with friends on the runway in the evening sun.

An energetic NOLS team at reration.

I always forget the name of these mountains ... argh ... anyways, it's in the Alaska Range.

Ali now getting comfortable with my 185.

Briefing the team before the big fly-in.  30+ trips with the Super Cubs in one day.

Preaparing for departure on our family summer outing.

A steep landing strip with a good view and awesome sheep hunting.

Everyone loves a photo by a Super Cub.

Samantha and I sitting on the front porch of our "Summer house".

Dropping off hunters on the ice.

Dropping off more hunters on the ice.

Enjoying the new tires on my 185.

More hunters exploring the unexplored...

And yet again.

Great mountain-top-ish landing site ... slightly sketchy.

Trading tax-prep for goat hunts, not bad at all, good people at Liberty Tax in Wasilla.

Father daughter successful hunt.

Double fisted.

Father and son hunt, they each got nice goats ... I wish they were in the picture too.

Beautiful Chugach ram.

Fall in Alaska, there are no words to describe it.

Beach landings with the 185, awesome spot.

If you can't tell, that is a SUPER nice moose.

40+ inch ram taken on closing day, the 20th of Sept.

Sun on the Big Susitna River

Dusk on a pink autumn evening in "The Valley".

My little buddy sporting her dad's hat.

Thanks for a great year friends!

Photo of the Day -- Super Cubs Have Limits

We moved a large group of mountaineers onto the ice above 5500'.  I think it took 15 trips, but with two Super Cubs working non-stop, and only 40 minutes per round trip, we were done by early afternoon.  Unfortunately, this climbing team ended up spending 7 out of 10 days laying in their tents waiting out a massive summer storm high on the glacier.  

We've found an increasing ignorance of the reality of true wilderness and wild weather.  It's not uncommon for clients to call in the middle of a raging storm and tell us they are fed-up with bad weather and ready to come out.  They've forgotten that even though they have an iPod in their pocket and a sat-phone in their hand, even NASA would be greatly challenged to extract them. When the ground is white, the sky is whiter, snow is falling 1 foot per hour, and the winds are blowing 70+ MPH, there is very little anyone can do except dig-in, play cards, and drink gin.  Even July, in Alaska, can be a threat when it comes to the high glacier country.  The weather has no limits, and we always hope our clients understand that a Super Cub does.