Well we've had a few hot days here recently and I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good swimming lakes with nearby airstrips that they are willing to share. I see a ton of strips on lakes out in the Big-Su/Yetna river areas but most of them have cabins on them and I don't want to piss anyone off. Thanks.

Well... Come out to Kotz and take a dip if ya want. The Chukchi Sea is a balmy 33 degrees this time of year.



Gump

Haha! I have a friend who flys 206's for Northwestern Aviation out there, he just headed back out there last night, doubt he'll be doing much swimming though.

My old red heeler, Hoser the Wonder Dog, loved water and musta been part seal, because he would swim for hours if I let him. If it moved, he wanted to herd it or chase it, land or water.

The first time I brought him up to Kotz I drug his ass to the pilot house to get him checked in, and then we headed for the shore to get mail at the post office and walk the beach. He saw the water, an open lead about 200 feet out, with birds sitting on the ice chunks teasing him. He was just itching to get in there, so I thought... "This is gonna be fun to watch....."

I grabbed a chunk of driftwood and flung it maybe 15 feet out... Kersplash!!! Old Hose was off like a rocket and jumped way out off the beach into the water. And then the fun started... He was like a cartoon dog. Straight up in the air, eyes wide open with this huge WTF look, and legs paddling so fast they just blurred as he tried to get out of there. His dog balls musta been on fire. That poor old guy.

Needless to say, he never once tried going into the Chukchi again.



Gump

My dog during the time I was stationed at EDF was a part Newfy, part Lab, Klinker. She had no problems with the coldest of water. I can recall her pushing the ice out of the way on Nancy Lake to try to catch the canoe. But I can also recall that on the hottest of days (which weren't all that hot), I didn't want to get in the water with her!

Cary

That ocean water, I think due to the salinity reducing the freezing temp to below 32 F, feels like liquid fire when you touch it. I can't imaging ditching in the Arctic and trying to swim in the stuff.

Gump

When I was at EDF we had an F-4 tuck under (swept wing version of a stall) at way too low an altitude to recover. They punched out into the Knik Arm, and luckily there was a rescue helicopter from the rescue squadron already in the air on a training flight, so they weren't in the water longer than a couple of minutes. Yet both of them spent several days in the hospital, recovering from hypothermia. Ultra cold water is a tough environment!

Cary

Years ago I spent a few minutes in the Knik arm, I was sitting in the front seat of my poor Toyota pickup with water up to my chin, steering as the tow truck pulled me out of the ocean, not a fun evening . Luckily it was in the summer and I was so steaming mad that I never felt the cold.

So I guess besides the Chukchi sea and the Knik Arm there's nowhere to swim up here?

The biggest swimming opportunity is to fly into Pedro Bay. Swim over to Igiugig, you can have a friend fly your plane and pick you up. Take a water-proof camera in case you see the lake monster.

So is the the "wild west" we have to look forward to?