Photos of the Day -- Coastline, Smokes, and Becharof Lake

I did something I seldom do today.  Something I ought to do more often, but continuously find myself in too big of a rush ... I took the scenic route.  I was headed for Dillingham but traveled via the coastline of Cook Inlet, through the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes to Becharof Lake and then on to Naknek and ultimately Dillingham.  It took me nearly 7 hours, and the weather was nearly perfect the entire way with only a few miles of snow showers on the Kejulik River.  I landed on several occasions to stretch my legs and do a little beach combing.  The coasline on the West side of Cook Inlet starts off tame enough but turns into an absolutely inhospitable mess of boulders and sea cliffs.  The snow is still 2 feet deep even at sea level along much of this route and landing options were few and far between.  There are no weather reporting stations along this route so it is seldom traveled because the weather is generally pretty horrible.   It's rare to find a day like this so I was excited to go exploring.

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On the beach near Chunitna Bay. (See last image. Spot point 6)

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A pathetic attempt to show where I was at.  At least that's where I thought I was at, but who really cares because I was following the coast so I knew I wasn't going to get lost :o)

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The salt water of Bruin Bay with the the ice of Lake Iliamna on the horizon, separated only by a few miles of land. (See last image. Spot point 8)

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Looking into Crater Lake in Katmai National Park.  The center of the lake was not frozen I would guess because of the heat from geo-thermal activity.  (See last image.  Spot point 12-ish)

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I was picking my way through the peaks enjoying the view, when all of a sudden, I was looking down into this festering, sulfuric steaming, snow cone.  It stunk like rotten eggs, it was awesome, and it scared the crap out of me because I didn't know what was coming when I crested the shoulder of this peak.  I backed way off to take this picture.  I think it was called Martin Mountain. (See last image.  Spot point 14-ish)

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I landed at my friends lodge near Becharof Lake called Grizzly Skins of Alaska Inc.  This is a family run business and they've been working and living here nearly 30 years.  This is an awesome family and if you want an excellent guided experience for your hunting, fishing, or ecotourism trip these are the folks to call.  A client had just taken a large Brown bear and I enjoyed hearing the story over a cup of coffee and a reindeer sausage sandwich.  I had never been to their lodge so this was a real treat.

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I landed on Kvichak bay to do a bit more beach combing and look at some bear tracks.  It was a sow with her cub of the year, cute little tracks.  (See last image.  Spot point 20)

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This was my route of flight for the day starting with point #1 in the North and ending with point #23.  Can you tell which way the wind was blowing?  The Spot sends out a waypoints at fixed time intervals.  Heading South the reporting points are close together but when I made the turn to the North things really stretched out.  The wind was out of the Southeast, which is why the distance between points 15, 16, and 17 are so great.  I averaged about 65 miles per hour while headed South West but once I turned to the Northwest I was cruising at twice that speed.  This was a good day, lots of fun.

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Bye Bye Little Tires.

Good configuration for sidehill landings or strong crosswinds .... that's a joke.

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Sent from my iPhone

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Photos of the Day -- Sombrero's on Ice

These are some new friends I put up on a secret glacier in the Chugach Mountains. They were in for 8 days and received nearly a foot of fresh powder during their stay. They did a good job of tracking things up, and I was pretty jealous, scroll down through the pictures and you will see why. They said their biggest problem during the week was keeping their beer from freezing ... now that's a good week.

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Ross can shred the backcountry but struggles slightly with the athleticism and coordination of the can-can.

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Looking up glacier towards the landing sight.

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The snow was soft and fluffy, the sun was blinding, the terrain was steep, and the view was so-so ... but other than that it was awesome.

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The landing light blaring is always a good indication of a pilot who left the master switch on, but never mind that because the view is great.

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A view of camp from above.

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I checked on them mid-week and the light was a tad flat, but the fresh snow sure was nice.

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Bill skinning up solo for the last run.

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One more view of the terrain.

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Scott enjoying a sip of stout from a growler that waited patiently for them in the car while they skied.

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Photos of the Day -- Hangin' With Family in Girdwood

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We went extravagant today and took the Cessna 185 down to Girdwood for a day of shredding corn snow at Alyeska Ski Resort. My wife is out of town on a girls weekend in Seattle, so her sister, and husband, and I, decided to do a little playing as well. It was a cloudless day on the slopes and my pasty white forehead took a nasty hit from the sun. We managed to get away without a single broken bone and had a beautiful flight home, the tailwind near Whiteout Glacier had us up to 216 mph ground speed. I need to do better at using the airplane for things other than work ... I forget how much fun it is. Thanks Meagan and Dave for a great day, I am blessed with an awesome family !!!

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Photo of the Day -- High Alpine Flying Will Be Here Soon

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I was flipping through pictures from a few Summers back and saw this. It made me excited for the Summer months ahead. I remember I took this photo late at night, and the air was dead calm, perfect for pioneering new strips. It was the first time I had landed here, and it's turned out to be one of our favorite strips. I moved several rocks and tussocks and it's a lot smoother now :o) 5500' in the Chugach.

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Photo of the Day -- Granite Out the Window

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I cliimbed up to 8000' on my way through the Chugach today.  The temperature never dropped below 25 degrees and the wind blew steadily out of the North at 25 knots.  It was a long, bumpy slog up to the glacier and a quick trip home.  I have no idea of the name of this mountain I was just flying along, fiddling with my camera, and snapped this shot ... I love Alaska.

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The Current View From The Office

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Sent from my iPhone

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Photos of the Day -- Look What My Friends Built Me!

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This was the brains behind the operation, she looks young, but she did a great job of keeping everybody lined out :o)

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This little project started in 2007 when I did the dirt work. This photo is Ali and I preparing to build the concrete forms, October 2011.

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This photo shows my dad relaxing in the wheel barrow minutes before the cement truck arrived, we were really fighting to beat the frozen ground.

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This is my nephew and daughter hard at work in the trench two days after the concrete pour. Ali was trying her hand at straightening J-bolts, and Vinny was running the shovel.

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This was March 2012. It took me nearly 8 hours to dig the foundation out with the back hoe. We had almost 4 feet of snow on the ground .

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This was last Monday April 9th when we started construction.

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We set the trusses on Wednesday April 11th, with the help of MANY of my friends.

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Building the mezzanine in the back of the hangar.

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Our unfinished house, unfinished hangar, cabin, dirt runway, and the neighbors hangar.

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The back of the hangar as it sits right now.

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This is the front of the hangar without the door. It should fit both the 185 and the Cub very comfortably.

It took us 8 days to frame this thing up, and I couldn't have done a fraction of this with out my friends help. I hired Chuck and Joe Gerwig from Chuck's Custom Construction and Dan Lathrop from Bent Nail construction.  Awesome guys, and super hard workers if you need any big projects done.  I also had several other good friends dedicate hours/days of the their life to this little project and it turned out to be quite a successful barn raising. I could not be happier with the out-come, they did awesome work. The project will likely go on hold for some time as the finances catch back up with the progress. In the last 6 weeks I flew more than 160 hours and framed the hangar, it's been a productive Spring and I am super thankful, but it's time to slow it down a bit. I only express the productivity to explain the absence on the blog not to pat myself on the back.  I couldn't have done any of this with out my friends and family ... we've been a bit busy lately :o)

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Photos of the Day -- Dillingham, Caribou, and Springtime

I recently returned from a job in Western Alaska and here are some of the photos.  We've been flying a lot this Spring and I am very thankful for the work.  The weather has been mostly cooperative and we are gearing up for another busy Summer season.  It's been nearly 50 degrees in Wasilla this week and the snow is melting like crazy.  Everything that is not snow is a sloppy muddy mess ... especially my driveway.  The sun does not set until nearly 930 PM and everybody is feeling the first signs of Alaskan Summer fatigue as the long days end with very short nights.  Enjoy the pics.

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The town of Dillingham on the Nushagak River in early April.

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The coast of the Nushagak Peninsula in early April.

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The Quicksilver helicopter working with caribou on the Nushagak Peninsula.

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Caribou on the Nushagak Peninsula on the move

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A portion of the Bristol Bay ice pack in early April.

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The biologist and his caribou, somewhere near Quinhagak, Alaska during a capture.

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A refueling point for the helicopter, Found,  and Super Cub near the Great Ridge in Western Alaska

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Me with caribou number "63".  (The frequency of the collar around it's neck ends with "63", the caribou is not dead, only temporarily drugged during a capture procedure.)

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My Super Cub sitting on the shore of Kvichak Bay in Western Alaska during a Short Break.

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About

My name is Matthew Keller. I am an Alaskan Bush Pilot. I own a small air-taxi in Alaska named Blue Ice Aviation (BlueIceAviation.com). I transport people into the Alaskan Wilderness.

Get lost for a month, or an afternoon in my backyard of Waterfalls, Granite Peaks, High Meadow Lakes, and Glaciers. Guided, or un-guided it will change your life.

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