My Adventure Story
This rather spotty track represents the route that we have been taking in the Cessna 180 Skywagon. We left Fort Collins, CO on July 2nd and traversed WY and MT to reach our first overnight in Ferndale, MT where we spent the night with my friend, Kathleen, at her home in Big Fork, MT.
The second day was complicated by the border crossing requirements that have been instituted since 9/11. We tracked through MT to ID and onto WA before our border entry at Kelowna, BC.
We made good progress on day 3 and spent the night camping in the Yukon. Scenery was spectacular, with the Canadian Rockies on the east and the Coastal Ranges on the west for most of the day. Later in the day we flew east of the Yukon's Kluane Nat'l. Park and Canada's highest peak, Mt Logan, which is over 17,000 ft high. We camped under the wing at a gravel airstrip near Kluane.
On Day 4, we traveled from Pine Lake, YT to Talkeetna, AK with stops in Whitehorse, YT, Northway, AK, and Tok, AK. Unfortunately, I didn't get the tracking device turned on properly, so the track was not recorded. I am still trying to figure out how to use this technology and this site, so hopefully things will improve as we go along. Good scenery traversing the Alaskan Range. We found perfect weather in Talkeetna when we arrived, and Denali was clearly visible towering over the surrounding peaks.
Once in Talkeetna, Bob set about resurrecting his flightseeing tour skills and we did a fabulous circuit of Denali in the Skywagon. We took videos from a wing mounted camera, so if we can figure out how to edit them, then I will try to post some clips.
We did a day trip out to a remote landing strip up in the Talkeetna Range, and saw a few Alaskan natives along the way. The signature wildlife seen so far include three grizzlies, two moose, a beaver, a sea otter, and a bunch of bald eagles. I expect that the wildlife will vary depending upon which part of the state we are in.
Today we are Homer. We went out on a half day halibut fishing trip this morning and caught our limit (2 each). Most of the fish caught were on the small side (~15 # average), but I understand that they make the best eating. I never realized how much effort it was to reel in a fish. I can't imagine how anyone manages to land one of the really big ones (e.g. 350#).
