Sunday, June 23, 2018
That's right! Left out overnight, stuck to the cardboard... cold pizza for breakfast! What a great way to start the day. After packing up the car we drove to Talkeetna Air Taxi (TAT). Although our arrival time was still an hour and a half away the OCD part of my brain said I needed to know where the business was located before I could roam elsewhere. Now that I scratched that itch we roamed around Talkeetna and grabbed as many geocaches as time permitted.
Check-in at TAT was lightning fast as the staff was plentiful and really knew their stuff. We signed the typical release waiver, made a stop at the rest room and were then issues our snow boots. Terry and I both wore jeans and sweater vests which we were told was ample to keep warm. I saw other people in heavy arctic jackets. At the time I wondered if I had under dressed, but later determined these fools probably cooked themselves silly.
Soon it was bucket list time. I'd wanted to take this trip for at least two decades. The weather prevented us from doing it on our 2017 Alaska cruise. The exhilarating moment was now at hand. Terry and I would be sharing the flight with a very courteous family from India. A golf cart carried us over to our De Havilland Beaver to meet our pilot Chris. After a brief orientation Chris asked for one of us to serve as copilot. Dead silence. Terry then nudged me to volunteer and I reluctantly stepped forward. "Do I need experience?", I asked. Totally deadpan Chris replied, "No, but I am happy one of us does." I love it!
Almost peeing my pants with excitement I crawled into the copilot's seat. I know it sounds stupid, but seeing all the flight controls in front of me and having a nearly 180 degree unobstructed view was drop dead awesome! Terry took the seat behind the pilot and the family of seven filled the remaining seats. Although everybody had a window seat I kept pinching myself at the incredible view afforded me. Chris did his magic and soon the Beaver was headed down the runaway. I've never flown in a Beaver before and was blown away with its near helicopter-like lift. One minute we were on the runaway and the next second we were aloft. Wow! Chris immediately began his commentary consisting of the De Havilland Beaver and its capabilities, history of the area (first hikers and climbers, etc.), geology and much more.
The weather gods were smiling on us as the skies were bright and sunny and illuminated everything on the ground below. The glacier-silty braided rivers soon gave way to stunning snow-capped peaks and intense blue meltwater pools.
Handling the plane was child's play to Chris who brought us so close to mountain peaks I swore I could reach out and touch them. He banked and pitched and climbed causing my heart as well as the plane to soar. Chris called out mountain peak and glacier names, but I was too enthralled with the moment to take notes. My jaw dropped open when I spotted a nearly cloudless Denali and Chris commented we were within a few miles of the peak.
Chris banked the plane sharply to my left and I spotted several planes down below on a glacier. Chris announced we had arrived at Ruth Glacier and it was time for us to land. Again the Beaver exhibited an almost helicopter-like maneuver and we softly touched down on the ice. As I climbed down the steps of the Beaver I felt like I had landed on the moon. Sharp snow covered peaks totally surround us. Hikers, climbers, backpackers had worked hard to reach this area yet for an additional fee I was able to stand where they stood with expending any energy. I felt like a kid again and picked up snowballs and threw them at Terry. I crunched around the glacier in my snow boots and took photo after photo. Words can't describe the experience, sight and sound. There have been few things I've experienced in my life that literally took my breath away. This was one of them. I asked Chris about a lodge on the other side of the glacier. He said you could fly in and stay at the Sheldon Chalet, but it required a park service visit for an access card permit. The chalet boasted fine dining, elegant accommodations and exciting excursions. Maybe a future bucket list item?
All good things must come to an end. We returned to Talkeetna just as the cloud cover came rolling in. I thanked Chris and tipped him, adding I can't wait until I could do this again. It was expensive, but indeed worth it.
Check out these extremely cool things I took with my iPhone:
- Panorama shot #1
- Panorama shot #2
- Flying around the mountains #1 (video)
- Flying around the mountains #2 (video)
- Coming in for a landing (video)
- Taking off (video)
Hopping back in the car we drove to Mike Gerenday's house for a cookout and story telling night. Mike and his Moriah have a one year old son Thomas for whom we brought a brand new toy train. When you push down on the smoke stack it emits train noises. We joked with Mike and Moriah that every time the airport baggage handlers picked up the bag they could hear the train noises from inside! Terry also had train bibs for Thomas as well.
The cookout was wonderful! Hamburgers, hotdogs, salad, beans, corn on the cob and strawberry cheese cake cups for dessert. Retired employee Ken Smith as well as ARRC employee Frank Keller were there swapping stories as we swatted mosquitoes. Mike lent me an electric tennis racket which electrocuted the mosquitoes when I swatted them.
Once the clock struck 9:00 PM I knew I needed to head back to Anchorage before my physical capabilities crashed. We profusely thanked our hosts for a truly wonderful evening and headed down the road. The construction wasn't nearly as bad since no flagmen were around and we negotiated the site in a wild west fashion. While I stopped for gasoline Terry went inside the convenience store and bought me a monstrously large cup of Tiger's Blood. What in the heck was Tiger's Blood? I reluctantly took a sip and immediately fell in love with the funky concoction. It kept me alive until I reached the Rudd's home at 11:30 PM. [Note: Even as I sit here writing this journal I wish I could somehow get a glass of this delicious drink. What a memory!]