North to Alaska

The mountain range in my office had formed over many years.  Peaks named Maps, Books, Articles, Websites and Contacts covered the counter.  A thousand hours of tailwheel time and back country mountain trips to Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho were in my logbook.  The final piece of the puzzle dropped into place when a friend indicated he would join us with his airplane.  Now it was time to tackle Alaska – the ultimate challenge.

The initial planning priority was confirming attitudes toward risks and objectives for the trip were similar.  That established, goals included beach and gravel bar landings, flying over glaciers and icebergs, seeing gold mining history, flying Denali, camping beside the planes, and seeing the wildlife.  After adding things like Watson Lake’s Signpost Forest, Kennecott Copper Mine, and historic Dawson City, the itinerary lengthened very quickly.

Our established goals included beach and gravel bar landings, flying over glaciers and icebergs.

A two-week travel window minus the two days required each way for the 1,500 miles to Watson Lake left only 10 days for Alaska.  The universal opinion of others that had done the trip was “you will need perfect weather for the entire time, and that’s unlikely”.  Quoting Jimmy Doolittle; “I could never be so lucky again”.  We got it all done in under two weeks!  Let me tell you how.

Obviously, routing was critical. There are four primary route options.  I’ll list them from west to east and outline our choices and reasoning.  Essentially, the escalation of dramatic and spectacular views to the west has to be balanced against a corresponding increase in risk approaching the coast.

In planning our route, the escalation of dramatic and spectacular views to the west has to be balanced against a corresponding increase in risk approaching the coast.

1. Coast:  This was a non-starter.  Despite the potential for what others have described as absolutely stunning views, the absence of emergency landing options for wheeled aircraft made it too risky, especially considering the high likelihood of poor weather.
2. Cassiar Highway:  Plan “A”. This scenic pathway would provide access to Alaska’s southwest coast to see and experience the iconic geography that motivated our trip.  There are places to land if required, and fuel range is not an issue, but it requires good weather.
3. (Rocky Mountain) Trench:  Plan “B” for the northbound trip.  It has the advantage of relatively easy geography and straight line travel with available emergency landing options.
4. Alaska Highway:  Last resort for northbound travel that we  planned to use only if weather further west was unsuitable.  We thought the other routes offered better views and a more interesting experience.  However, it is usually the lowest, flattest, easiest, and safest.

Once up north, we planned to do an upside down “U”, with the three sides being up the southwest coast, across to Denali, and then down to Dawson City and Watson Lake.  We hoped to do the west coast first, as the weather there is more uncertain and work our way towards easier weather and routes as we went east and then south.  If weather forced our hand, we would reverse the circuit.

The route we decided on was up the southwest coast, across to Denali, and then down to Dawson City and Watson Lake.

As we all know, this summer’s wildfires was the proverbial ‘black swan’ event.  Edson, Alberta, the first route decision point where we would either turn north to follow the Alaska Highway or continue west towards either the Trench or the Cassiar, was under an evacuation order.  The south wind pushing the smoke north made the decision.  The Alaska Highway was IFR so we followed the Yellowhead Highway west in rapidly improving visibility, enjoying stunning views of the Rockies around Jasper.  200 miles later we were at Prince George, where the determination between taking the Trench north towards Watson Lake or west until the Cassiar took us north for our Plan “A” routing had to be made. Weather looked promising so we chose the Cassiar, filed our eAPIS for Juneau, and followed that amazing route up to Telegraph Creek where we set up the tents.

We followed an amazing route up to Telegraph Creek where we set up the tents.

The next morning, we followed the VFR route to Juneau and cleared customs there.  One note applicable here; there is a time zone change at the Alaska border, so we arrived at Juneau an hour early.  Fortunately, the CBP officer had been watching our flight on FlightAware and showed up early to meet us.  Thanks to this efficient and courteous officer, a few minutes later our Alaska exploration commenced.  The old maxim about flying to Alaska, “Sometimes invited, sometimes tolerated, and sometimes told to go home” was answered with, “you are invited” by both government and Mother Nature.

Among the myriad of preparations for the trip was the purchase of Uncharted Airstrips (2142), Glacier Landing Sites (117) and VFR Routes (68) ForeFlight layers.  This made the trip exponentially safer and opened up numerous exploration options.  The VFR route portion had already proven invaluable during our passage through Alberta and British Columbia, and their utility was immediately obvious when we left Juneau. We followed one up Lynn Canal, over and down Casement Glacier, continued to Lituya Bay, and then did a beach landing that prompted high-fives all around.  Two and a half hours of the most spectacular flying I have ever experienced went into the logbook!  It is only when you are flying above it that you realize how incredible Alaska really is!

My beach landing prompted high-fives all around – there were 2.5 hours of the most spectacular flying I have ever experienced into the logbook!

Continuing up the coast, we saw our first bears at the Alesk & Tanis National Forest Service cabins before we stopped for the night at Italio River.  The size of the bear prints in the sand here made the decision about putting up the electric fence around the airplanes easy!  Many thanks to the visionary behind the gems that are the Tongass National Forest fly-in cabins!

The size of the bear prints in the sand here made the decision about putting up the electric fence around the airplanes easy.

The Wrangell-St Elias National Park is arguably the crown jewel of Alaska’s treasures that are best experienced by air.  I’m sure the cruise ship passengers we overflew in Yakutat Bay were oohing and aahing about their view of the Hubbard Glacier face a mile or so away, but our experience was magnitudes better.  We flew adjacent to the face and then continued up the glacier, marvelling at the huge crevasses and deep blue pools.  A few miles later, Icy Bay was another surreal experience.  The beauty unfolded in layers; each one more enchanting than the last.  This part of Alaska truly cannot be described – it must be seen.  Cameras were rolling so we could share the experience with others.

Following another VFR route inland over the Tana Glacier, we were able to do some gravel bar landings on the Tana River.  Continuing on, we dropped in at Jake’s Bar before stopping at May Creek for the night.

We were able to do some gravel bar landings on the Tana River.

Considered the operations hub in this area, McCarthy is much more than a fuel stop.  The Kennecott mine tour is excellent and the rustic ambience of the town extends to the vehicles on the streets and Ma Johnson’s old rooming house hotel where we luxuriated in our first shower after four days of back country camping.

Ma Johnson’s old rooming house hotel was a welcome site after four days of back country camping.

Next night was at Peavine after following a VFR route over the Russell Glacier, Chisana, the Cooper Pass, down the Nabesna and Regal Glacier and landed on the Amphitheatre Creek strip next to the stunning glacial lake at the foot of the Nizina Glacier.  Once again, the views defied description.

The following morning we headed for Talkeetna, the base for Denali experiences and all the associated tourist trappings. Hoping to add our names to the privileged 30% of visitors who actually see the summit, we awoke to what is a rare event around the mountain – clear skies!  We launched early to beat the tour operators and were able to complete a 1.5 hour, 186 mile circumnavigation of one of Creation’s most spectacular monuments.  Our feelings were eloquently expressed by Stephen Coonts when he wrote “I am but a gnat flying by the face of God”.

We were able to complete a 1.5 hour, 186 mile circumnavigation of one of Creation’s most spectacular monuments.

Leaving Alaska for the Yukon, three hours later we were immersed in the frontier atmosphere of Dawson City.  Once in a lifetime experiences like the Sour Toe Cocktail, Gold Tooth Gerty’s, panning for gold, and checking out Dredge #4 occupied our time there.

The next day, we were in Watson Lake’s signpost forest, a fitting reminder of other adventurers from all over the globe captivated by the idea of going to Alaska.  Among the thousands of signs we even found ones from our hometowns.

Watson Lake’s signpost forest.

Heading home, forest fires and smoke were still there but winds were now from the north, so we could actually overfly hundreds of fires but still be in VFR conditions if we took a direct south east route.  Continuing the pattern for our entire trip, weather ahead was good while weather closed in behind us.  Alaska left an indelible impression that will stay with us forever.  In the words of Bilbo Baggins “I think I’m quite ready for another (Alaska) adventure”

Trip Summary:

• The dates: June 11 – 21, 2023
• The airplanes: Cessna 185, Bearhawk Patrol
• The statistics: 11 days, 5,841 miles, 30 landings/takeoffs, 660/364 gallons
• The memories: 900 video clips, 185 hours editing, 1 priceless video souvenir

Interested in planning your Alaska flying adventure? I’m happy to share this helpful “Checklist ALASKA” to help get you started.

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Curtis Penner

Curtis started his aviation journey at the age of 18, but had to suspend it with only 17.8 hours in his logbook when he started his farming career. Twenty seven years later, realizing that time was more valuable than money, he resumed his training, achieving a life-long goal when he got his license in a 90-day period. Since then, following a philosophy of “do it now,” he has flown as much as possible, whenever and wherever he can.Aircraft owned have included a Cessna 150H and a PA-180, and he currently flies an RV-10 and Bearhawk Patrol. In addition to time logged in these, “whenever we travel, we rent an aircraft to see the country, including flights in in Australia, New Zealand, and Costa Rica.” Trips in owned aircraft have been coast to coast in Canada and included southern destinations like the Bahamas, Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

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