Excellent write up Ted. I've lived in the heart of the Wrangell Mountains for several years and continue to marvel at this awesome country. I live on the same airstrip as the original owners of Wrangell Mountain Air and regularly visit many of the sites that you wrote about. One thing that many pilots don't realize when they visit Alaska is that while there are some really aggressive back country landing opportunities throughout the state, in the Wrangell Mountains there are numerous sites where 8.50s will get you into the most breathtaking spots that anyone from the lower-48 could envision -- many of which you reported on in your write up. Often many of these pilots drop in for a visit and I enjoy hearing their observations of visiting our backcountry.

motosix wrote:A riddle of epic proportions was solved for me on that very day on that very beach:



I will let you figure it out.

Looks like marking territory like wild stallions in the Red Desert or...….sometimes I also get like that if I eat too many berries

AKclimber wrote:

I bet you hear this often, but that area really is heaven.

I am going to do whatever I can to get back through there next year.

Regarding how much we flew everyday...

The least was 3+ hours. The most 7.5 hours. Wrangell Mtn Air was short two pilots last summer. Hence most of my personal time was C-206, some C-172, very little C-185 and Beaver. Just the way things worked out.

We had one day off per week. I’d generally take my Super Cub up, just sightseeing to valleys where we hadn’t ventured as a course of normal business. I also tried to visit one or more of the uncharted airstrips in the region to familiarize myself with somewhere new.

Sometimes on a slower regular flying day I’d take my Cub to one of the closer backcountry strips (e.g. The Fosse; Nikolai Pass) and go for a hike.

[/quote]

I bet you hear this often, but that area really is heaven.

I am going to do whatever I can to get back through there next year.[/quote]

It is! It’s just a bit over 1 hour from Juneau so I go there often.
It’s amazing how much it’s changed in the last 10 years. La Perouse glacier used to have a 50’ ice face where at high tide the breakers would spectacularly crash against. And the canyon that is now mostly dry river bed to the west was a raging river that you couldn’t cross even by the tide line. It was very impressive!
Next time you guys come up, give a shout, it’s be great to meet up.

tedwaltman wrote:Regarding how much we flew everyday...

The least was 3+ hours. The most 7.5 hours. Wrangell Mtn Air was short two pilots last summer. Hence most of my personal time was C-206, some C-172, very little C-185 and Beaver. Just the way things worked out.

We had one day off per week. I’d generally take my Super Cub up, just sightseeing to valleys where we hadn’t ventured as a course of normal business. I also tried to visit one or more of the uncharted airstrips in the region to familiarize myself with somewhere new.

Sometimes on a slower regular flying day I’d take my Cub to one of the closer backcountry strips (e.g. The Fosse; Nikolai Pass) and go for a hike.

Thanks Ted, Again Great write up!