June 13, 2008
By the time we woke up in Seldovia the clouds had moved in and formed a solid overcast layer up around 8,000’ and the skies were gray. We packed up camp and took a walk to town for a latte. Ah, a latte. The perfect fixer-upper on a cloudy morning. We moseyed back to the airport and decided to head to Homer for some breakfast.
Homer’s a quick hop across Kachemak Bay, not quite 15 miles. On the ground, the guys wandered around the tarmack looking at all the cool airplanes and I chatted up a couple mechanics and got us a cab to town. The cab dropped us off at the Duncan House Diner and we were just in time for brunch.
Like most of the places we’d wandered into on this trip, there was a lot of art on display - pint sized panoramic paintings of mountains, moose, bear and fish, scenes of glaciers, forests and rivers, boats and airplanes. There were antlers hanging on the walls and carvings of various creatures in various styles. Napkins were checkered cotton, drinks were served in jelly jars and the food was super tasty. Folks of all kinds lined the counter and filled the booths. Lots of denim and flannel. Hair of all lengths from well coifed to scruffy to just plain unkempt. I’d say that one of the more consistent aspects of Alaskan society is the variety of people you come across at any given juncture. We fit right in.
As we made our way through heaps of yummy breakfasts and plates were slowly cleared away, we pulled out our charts and plotted our next course. Steve and Allen would be turning south soon and we figured we had another day to explore northwards. From Homer it was a hundred miles to Anchorage and from there two routes led out of the state. The main one goes northwest between the Talkeetna and Chugach Mountains, through Yahetna Pass and back to Gulkana, then back the way we came through Mentasta Pass to Northway. A longer route goes along the north side of the Alaskan Range to the Tenana River and then on upstream (southeast) to Northway. To get to this route would require crossing through the mountains following the Nenana river through Denali National Park. As long as the weather was good on the north side of the range this would be a gorgeous flight.
After a long walk back to the airport we fired up and headed north following the coastline of the Kenai Peninsula. The cloud layer had lifted some, but still obscured the peaks of the Kenai Mountains to the east. It was clearer across the Cook Inlet, though still hazy, and we could make out Augustine Island and volcanic peaks in the Chigmit Mountains.
Chigmit mountains on the north side of Cook InletCrossing the Turnagain Arm, Anchorage unfolded in front of us. It’s the the home to 40% of the people in Alaska making it by far the largest urban area in the state. In comparison to the lower 48, it’s about the size of Buffalo. Similar weather too. But better scenery.
Over Anchorage on a hazy afternoon
Geograpically, Anchorage occupies a flat plain 7 miles wide scrunched between the Cook Inlet and the west end of the Chugach Mountains. With only two roads in and out of town most people who come to the city do so by air. There are three main airports that handle the traffic: Stevens International for commercial flights, Lake Hood for those on floats, and Merrill Field for everyone else on wheels and skis. On top of that there’s Elmendorf Air Force Base and an adjacent Restricted Airspace. All that airspace stacked together over a narrow strip of land leaves just a small channel at the foothills for through traffic to circumnavigate the comings and goings from the city.
We stayed on flight following with Anchorage ATC as we passed around town and saw more planes in the air than we‘d seen since leaving Seattle. They routed us up as far as the north end of the Knick Arm before letting us go at Birchwood. We turned northwest to intersect the Sustina River which we’d follow to Talkeetna.
It was getting onto late afternoon and as we moved north the overcast layer became broken and thunderstorms were starting to develop. There was one very big and heavy cell dumping out over the western half of the river valley between Willow and Talkeetna. It was close to Talkeetna but with little wind to move the mass we were able to skirt around it and a couple smaller squalls and duck into the airport.
slow moving cell at the Sustina River
Talkeetna airportTalkeetna is the jumping-off point for expeditions up the peaks of the Alaskan Range. It’s also the home of some of the most extreme bush pilots in the country - those guys who fly up among the crags and land on glaciers to take mountaineers and climbers up to base camps. We had to see what that was all about so we booked ourselves on a late evening flight with Hudson Air before walking to town for a bite to eat.
Plenty of taildraggers on skis at TalkeetnaThe airfield is filled with 180’s, Beavers, and Otters on skis. The town is filled with bush pilots, mountaineers, and cruise trip tourists passing through. At a grill packed with climbers we sat out on the deck next to two tables of pilots. We traded stories some but mostly just sat back and listened to theirs ‘cause they were all brand new.
We had cold beers and caribou chili. Mmmmmm.
Talkeetna is my kind of place.
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