Alaska, Summer of 98 Glenn ViceŠ1998

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The bears at the "City" dump - Yakutat, Alaska.

The Yakutat Glacier calves into Harlequin Lake.  On the day that we were there the silence of the windless, gloomy day was broken only by the thunder of the distant calving glacier .... and the nervous and noisy banter after we discovered a very large, very fresh pile of bear scat in the middle of the path that we had taken to the lake. Bear scat is bear poop for those of you who don't watch the Discovery channel.

Yakutat Lodge                  Omak, tarmac

This lovely, up-scale dwelling which is conveniently located out behind the Yakutat Lodge rents for $50 a night, except during the prime fishing season when it is a "bargain" at $250 a night.   Note the fine, built-in furniture crafted from 2 x 4s and 1/2-inch CDX plywood.  The clerestory windows are cut from a roll of construction-grade 12 mil plastic sheeting and provide subtle light during the long summer days.  The light from the clerestory windows is complemented by light from an elegantly bare 100-watt bulb suspended from the pitched ceiling.  Warmth during those cool summer evenings is maintained by a kerosene-burning heater, though with those 12-mil plastic windows and the tufts of fiberglass insulation that are rolled and stuffed between the thick logs in the walls, only minimal heating is actually needed.   In fact, the gentle breeze through the numerous unfilled gaps between the logs reassured us that we should have no fear of becoming overheated or of succumbing to carbon monoxide asphyxiation from the stove and the gaps between the logs provided wonderful natural light on all sides.  Though we were unable to determine the Auto Club rating for our accommodations, we were assured that somebody named Ted Kasynski (sp?), who is apparently an authority on cabins, would have rated our accommodations Five Star.  We give the accommodations two thumbs up, largely because the cabin was dry and the hot shower, toilet and running water were only two cabins away along the boardwalk.  Only the "fine Corinthian Leather" was missing.  The phrase of the week:   "Hey, it doesn't get any better than this." 

The Yakutat accommodations compared very favorably with the accommodations (right) in Omak Washington on the first night of our trip    (Author's Note:  Asphalt is much firmer than it first appears.)  We departed El Monte, CA at 12:32 p.m. on July 24, made our first stop for fuel in Bend, Oregon 5 hours 22 minutes later and made our final stop for the night at Omak 2 hours, 12 minutes after leaving Bend.  The total distance traveled on our first day was 922 nautical miles. Total flying time for the trip was 48.6 hours with Fairbanks, AK being the most northerly place visited and according to the GPS we covered more than 5300 "thrill filled" nautical miles in 17 days.

Glaciers along the Copper River between Cordova and Gulkana on the flight from Yakutat.  The photo on the right is of the area where the Copper River flows into the Gulf of Alaska.

Cabin where we stayed in Gustavus (Glacier Bay).  Sixty bucks a night, no running water, and no inside plumbing, but it is great.  There is a board walk, like the one in the foreground, that leads from the cabin back into the lush rain forest to the door-less outhouse.  Not putting a door was intentional.  The halcyon view from the "throne" is inspiring.

This photo is already full size.  The white "snow" across the image is birds - thousands of them.  This is Icy Straight at the entrance to Glacier Bay.  The two girls near the trees are returning from picking wild strawberries.  Their large Ziplock bag is full.  The berries are smaller than commercially grown berries, but are just as tasty.

This (left) is a quiet cove less than a mile from the Glacier Bay Lodge and just to show that Alaska is not all snow and ice there is a picture of the ubiquitous Fireweed (center).  The Margerie Glacier (right) as seen from the all-day tour boat, the Adventure.

The Hubbard Glacier (left) is located about 30 miles north of Yakutat at the head of the Russell Fjord, a wishbone shaped body of water that is about 25 miles long.  The vertical face of the glacier is 300 to 500 feet high. The calved icebergs fall into Disenchantment Bay and flow through Yakutat Bay to the Gulf of Alaska.    A few years ago the ice from the Hubbard Glacier blocked the entrance to Russell Fjord and the water level rose over 80 feet in the Fjord trapping many marine creatures.  Eventually, the pressure of the water in the Fjord broke through the glacier releasing massive quantities of water and icebergs which went rushing through Disenchantment Bay to the sea.  Must have been quite a sight from the air and probably even more impressive from a boat.  The Malaspina Glacier (right) is located between Icy Bay and Yakutat.  The snow covered peaks, some rising to more than 18,000 feet, are located 25 - 30 miles inland and all of the foreground is slowly flowing ice-- the Malaspina Glacier.  The view stays essentially the same for most of the 60 mile flight along the coastline from Yakutat to Icy Bay.  This sight is truly AWE INSPIRING.

Icy Bay is northwest of Yakutat along the coast.

The sightseeing train - Anchorage to McKinley (Denali National Park)   to Fairbanks.

Igor the eagle waits for a handout (which he usually catches in midair) at the Yakutat Lodge

A SuperCub departing the float pond at Fairbanks.  Fairbanks Airport has a terrific "Air Park" campground for flyers only.  The Air Park has a large covered gazebo with four large picnic tables, a woodburning stove, and free firewood.  There are also clean, "modern," outhouses and a pay phone.    The pilot's lounge, located at the base of the tower, about a half mile from the camp ground, has a nice a clean restroom, shower, soft drink and candy machines, and a TV/VCR with a selection of aviation safety videos.   The price -- only $3 per day.  Plans are in the works to build a new campground next to the float pond so that campers in both land and float equipped planes can enjoy the facilities.  Those who have seen the plans report that the new facilities will be even better than the existing facilities -- which are already great. 

Gulkana Alaska.  Overnight showers had left several large areas of standing water on the pavement in the aircraft tiedown area.  I took the photo on the right by taking off my jacket and lying down on the asphalt near where we were camped and shooting the reflected image of the mountains -- the temperature was below 40 degrees that July morning.

This photo was taken from the control tower at Ketchikan International Airport.  The airport is located on an island across the channel from Ketchikan.   Access to and from the airport is by ferry.  When the cruise ships are in port, the float planes carrying tourists on short flightseeing trips form a non-stop parade down the channel as they approach from the north and take off to the south.  Click for a nice aerial photo of Ketchikan.

The fishermen (left and right) had paid the pilot (center) of the amphibian Cessna 185 to drop them off at Situk Lake, about 15 miles north of Yakutat, on this little stand of grass and then pick them up in the afternoon.  Since there was an empty seat, I was able to bum a ride from Yakutat for the afternoon pickup.   What an idyllic spot.  The fishermen had caught their limit in the first 45 minutes and had been wearing themselves out doing catch and release for the rest of the day.   Note the horizontal stabilizer on the right side of the photo.  I am standing on the float.

The only 182 on floats that we saw the whole trip.  This one was in the float pond at Fairbanks International

When we stopped for fuel at Battle Mountain Nevada we spotted these firefighting bombers. The two planes shown in the top three pictures were built in the early 40s and have fewer than 3500 hours on the airframes.  The bombers were on "loan" for the fire season, but were normally stationed in Fairbanks, AK.   One of the pilots gave us a guided tour.  The plane in the second row (jet engine on top) is retired and is in the "aviation museum" (field) just a few hundred yards from the firefighters.   Also, the FBO has a courtesy car (free) for a trip to town or McDonalds.  Nice folks.  Nice facilities.

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For some interesting facts and fun reading try Alaskan Memories