Day 9 - Wednesday

Woke up early to a gorgeous sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky. Could see Denali from Talkeetna, which is kind of a rare occurrence, I'm told. I've been there a couple of times and seen Denali. I must be lucky.





Sunny skies and some hot chocolate and oatmeal. Doesn't get any better than that!!!

Wanted to fly to Skwentna. I'm looking at some land out that way. Got up in the air and decided that I couldn't let such an opportunity to fly up to Denali get away from me on such a beautiful day. I've flown up there several times with the Alaska Floats and Skis crew, but never before on my own and in my own plane... Get ready for lots of pics... So much scenery to cover...


Denali from Talkeetna area

The Su and Talkeetna rivers bursting their banks...


























Again... sorry for so many pics. I can't decided which ones to leave out. Soooo....

Me at Skwenta landing strip

Picked up a hitch hiker at Skwenta Roadhouse. Michael Cramer.

Michael is a German that lives in Switzerland and he has a goal of traversing completely around the Denali mountain range without any re-supply and solo with a pack raft and his 2 feet. Starting at Honolulu Creek and ending up there. He's done several reconnaissance trips and I think he's tried the actual traverse a couple of times. He figures it can be done in 31 days (at least that's how much 'food' he packed. 62 lbs of nuts and chocolate - 2 lbs a day.) He got stuck this time at day 19 on the very last 'hard part' of the trek. The pass he had to get over had iced up and he couldn't get over it. He had to tap out. He hiked down to the Skwentna Roadhouse and was waiting for a ride to Talkeetna.

Along comes Chaddie in 52T. Gave him a ride out and he bought me lunch (I wouldn't let him pay me for fuel - I figured it was heartache enough to get to day 19 of a 31 day trip and have to call it). Had a fascinating discussion with Michael and then parted ways. I visited the Alaska Floats and Skis crew, but my float refresher training fell through... So I flew to Kenai.





On way to Kenai...

I got to follow a C-141 into Kenai. That was a treat. He did a missed approach, so didn't actually land. I gave him LOTS of room and still felt his wake turbulence... Next time I'll give him a LOT MORE room...

Day 10 - Thur
Got up at 4:30 am for a float down the Kasilof river with a friend.

This is a view of the Kenai River from his back yard at 5am.

Fished all day and got SOAKING wet. My prunie (pruny?, proony? proohnie?) hands had wrinkles on top of wrinkles. It wasn't super cold, just WET. We were trying to catch some silvers. I caught 10 (or more) kings. One was easily a 60 pounder. Had to let them all go. We hooked one silver (we think). Caught a bunch of Dolly Varden. No pics, sorry. It was so wet and rainy that I never pulled out my phone or my gopro. My friend took some footage of the big king, but he has yet to get it to me, despite my brow beating texts... It was great fishing, if you like catch and release on Kings... did I mention it was wet?!

Day 11 - Fri
Had a work meeting scheduled at noon, so I ended up working all morning to make up for it. Bogus. After the meeting, went and visited the Flight Services guys and gals (again, because I could), and got briefed for a flight to Wasilla. Very nice sitting down with the peeps there and looking at what they are looking at. The dude I got this time was a pilot and he had some great tips. I wanted to fly down the West coast of Cook Inlet, down to Chinitna Bay, and try to see some bears from the air. I was warned off from landing on the beach with my itty bitty little wheels... Turned out that the weather was probably not gonna cooperate, according to my flight service friend. I still thought I might try, but my friend was ultimately right.


Kenai Airport





Ultimately, the sketchiest weather that I flew in for the trip. There were a lot of planes flying and a lot of Pireps, so I knew it was VFR all the way to Wasilla. (Ever try to take a panorama in an airplane... I have... your results may vary)

As I was landing at Wasilla, there was a low layer of clouds moving in. I overflew the field and could see the clouds trying to cover the end of runway 04. A Skywagon was on the approach for runway 22, but he said he was going to go missed, so I said I would land 04 before the clouds covered it up. As I was on final, staying over the clouds ended up putting me way high and with only half the runway left, so I went around. Of course, the Skywagon was coming in on his 'missed approach', so I sidestepped and informed him what I was doing. He decided to do a touch and go anyway (don't ask me...). I went around and tried again, after the Skywagon moved on. Second final, the runway was even worse; no chance at landing that way. I quickly checked the AWOS and the flag and the winds had shifted to favoring runway 22... I flew runway 04 heading out a couple of miles, sidestepped and did a 180, then slipped in right under the clouds on 22. It was a bit exciting, but, if you know the area, there are about 100 landing strips within 20 mins of Wasilla, so I could have made one of them, if needed. Wolf Lake is only a couple miles away. I met a new friend that told me to come visit him at Wolf Lake, if I could. This guy: https://www.facebook.com/danchiniaerollc/ His cub looked incredible at Talkeetna when I talked to him and his wife.

I grabbed a rental car in Wasilla and went fishing for the big rainbows.

First one... not too big

Another one...


Biggest one of the night

mist was moving in and it was getting dark...

Went back to camp and went to bed...

Day 12 Saturday
I knew my fishing chances were getting short. I had to be home by Wednesday the 17th and I needed to have 4 days (1 extra weather day) to get home. So, I decided to fish as much of the day Saturday as I could, this really being my last chance. So I did.


The bears were fishing the same spots I was. I saw a LOT of bear tracks, and half eaten salmon.

I caught some of the nicest rainbows in my life. The pics are on my GoPro and I haven't gotten them downloaded yet. I really hope they turned out. I'll update when I get some good shots.
Updated Pics: The GoPro got some water on it when I caught the biggest fish, of course...

















Dropped off the rental at 3pm, then flew to Tok, to begin my homeward journey.















On way from Wasilla to Tok Junction

52T at Tok Junction

Ate at Fast Eddy's again. Had the malibu chicken. It was pretty good. Got a room with fast Eddy and slept the night away.

Fantastic report so far! Really enjoyed following along. If you come back, I'd suggest detouring to McCarthy for a day or two. The fishing isn't very good in the area, but the mountains are spectacular. Perhaps divert to Cordova for a day for some great fishing options. Of course, there's also the Kotzebue/Nome area, which would definitely be worth a visit. Maybe via Bettles and the Brooks Range? Then fly south and fish the drainages of Bristol Bay. Ah, hell...you should probably just move here, as there's too much to explore in a lifetime.

Brian M wrote:Fantastic report so far! Really enjoyed following along. If you come back, I'd suggest detouring to McCarthy for a day or two. The fishing isn't very good in the area, but the mountains are spectacular. Perhaps divert to Cordova for a day for some great fishing options. Of course, there's also the Kotzebue/Nome area, which would definitely be worth a visit. Maybe via Bettles and the Brooks Range? Then fly south and fish the drainages of Bristol Bay. Ah, hell...you should probably just move here, as there's too much to explore in a lifetime.

Brian, thanks. It's tough to be detailed enough for interest and not overly detailed to get bogged down.

I had so many things on my list. McCarthy was one. The weather ate into a few of my days and also dictated where I could get to.

Ah, hell.... I'm with you. If I could just get my wife onboard with that. She's always been a city girl, but now she is a city grandma with grandkids in Utah. I'll never pry her out of here... But, I am gonna get to all those places you mention! Thanks for following along. This has been such a grand adventure.

Days 13-16; Sunday-Wed - The Trip Home {sniff}
Sunday
Church by Zoom on Sunday morning. Ticked the housekeepers off, because I wouldn't leave and let them clean my room. Hey, I paid until 11:00am. Leave me alone...

After eAPIS, flight plan filing, ARRIVECan receipt and a call to CanPASS... (I plan to write up a post about my adventures with customs; both sides of the border. I think it will be worthwhile reading for anyone who hasn't done this before. Yes, Ted, I'll get to you!) ... it was off to Beaver Creek.

Northway below...

On hold with CanPASS at Beaver Creek.... over an hour later... Bob's your uncle and I'm cleared.









Scenery between Beaver Creek and Watson Lake

At Watson Lake - They have a really cool display of WWII pics. A museum of sorts. Very interesting about the ALSIB (Alaskan-Siberian) airway. Slept under the wing...

Monday
Got up and headed for the trench and Mackenzie after talking to Kamloops FIC. Called Mackenzie and was informed by Jaden, the Mackenzie FBO dude that I would need to pay a $75 callout fee to get self-serve fuel at Mackenzie. Apparently, Monday is a day off now and yes, it is self serve fuel, but Jaden needs to come out to turn it on... Not exactly how I would classify 'self serve', but I'm not in charge.


I was set on stopping in Mackenzie, just because I'd heard so much about it. So, I landed and rode my bike into town and bought me a Canadian Club at Subway. Apparently, they don't do oil and vinegar in Canada.


They do have the biggest tree cruncher in the world, tho. However, it does get stuck, so don't count on it getting everywhere you need it.

I didn't call out Jaden, I just flew to Williams Lake for fuel and paid about a million dollars a liter... I showed Jaden.

eApis, Flight Plan Filing and a call to Oroville Customs and I was off again...

Landed at Oroville. Had the smoothest ever Customs visit with Officer Hughes.
Slept under my wing and slowly started to realize that I had given myself 4 days to get home and hadn't hit a stitch of bad weather, soooo... That meant I had an extra day to.... wait for it....

...You guessed it - to fish!

Tuesday
Got up early. Flew to St. Marie's in the Coeur D'alene area.






52T at Jack A. Buell Field in St. Marie's (yeah that wood chopper dude is creepy)

Grabbed one of the (yes, there are 2!) courtesy cars and headed to Avery to fish for Idaho Cutthroat trout in St. Joe's River!!!





Caught a bunch of cutthroats... Had a ball.

Slept under the wing, one last time for this trip


Then on to home...



All that fit in the 182???

Yes, if all your buddies and your brother leave you hangin'... you just load up more stuff to make your trip lots more fun!

Stay tuned for the "What I learned from this trip"....

That can't be Denali. There's no clouds. Amazing trip and pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Never too many pics! Keep 'em coming.

Thanks for the awesome trip report, brings back great memories and fuels further dreams!

gdflys wrote:That can't be Denali. There's no clouds. Amazing trip and pictures. Thanks for sharing.

The pics are incredible, but like anything, they never can catch the in your face nature of being there... Thanks!

SmilinJack wrote:Never too many pics! Keep 'em coming.

Yessir! I kinda feel the same way, obviously...

marcusofcotton wrote:Thanks for the awesome trip report, brings back great memories and fuels further dreams!

It was such a great trip. Lots of work and keeping on your toes for 'vacation'... Certainly not a rest and relax kind of vacation. Although I feel absolutely rejuvenated... Trying to get my mind wrapped back around the job thing...

FYI: Updated the Fishing Pics in the last 2 posts... If you're into looking at what my friend calls fish porn, then you might want to check them out... I hooked into some pretty nice rainbows...

Awesome stuff, I am very jealous of the fishing…. And flying too of course

Utah-Jay wrote:Awesome stuff, I am very jealous of the fishing…. And flying too of course

Fishing and Flying... doesn't get any better than that!

Beautiful fish! I'm jealous...

Great pictures and stories. Loved the hitchhiker’s experience!

Yes, please update me on tips I might add re Customs. [email protected]

Thank you!

You got more of an alaskan trip than many on bushwheels do. Love the positive attitude and spirit for adventure. Hope to see more trip reports from you in the future! Thanks again

Super fun to read about your trip. Thanks!!

SmilinJack wrote:Beautiful fish! I'm jealous...

Really some of the nicest rainbows I’ve ever caught. Those Grayling were super fun, too…

tedwaltman wrote:Great pictures and stories. Loved the hitchhiker’s experience!

Yes, please update me on tips I might add re Customs. [email protected]

Thank you!

Meeting Michael Cramer was an amazing experience. Talk about an adventure! And all by himself…

I’m putting some thoughts together on my customs experiences, Ted. I hope they’ll be helpful…. I’ll definitely reach out when I’ve got them nailed down.

asa wrote:You got more of an alaskan trip than many on bushwheels do. Love the positive attitude and spirit for adventure. Hope to see more trip reports from you in the future! Thanks again

Such a great time. Definitely planning on making more trips!

Lucky wrote:Super fun to read about your trip. Thanks!!

Glad you enjoyed it! I sure did…

cwoolley wrote:Day 4, Friday
[...]
Another plane flew in and landed right behind me in Northway. They were from Wisconsin, I think. They were headed to Anchorage and after a long discussion with Cassidy, they decided to fly through Mentasta pass to Gulkana and wait for Tehneta (sp?) pass to clear up.

Nope! We were from New Hampshire! Flight to the Anchorage area went as planned. Later, I found myself on a mountain top in Wrangle St Elias National Park.