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This was one of the very rare days on the trip that we
woke up to not just good, but great weather. Weather
was always a factor in our flights in Alaska, but today
you could just tell was going to be great, and it sure
was!
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We got up and got our trolley to the airport with the
group, and Ed was feeling a little under the weather so
Andrea and Sheila switched places and Andrea went with Ed
in case he needed an extra set of hands. This also
allowed Andrea to get some great photos that actually
included our plane for once!
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By now the group has built up some better formation
skills, and everyone was able to stay much closer without
things getting too wild. It was kind of important to
stay close on this flight. As you can see in some of
the photos below, airplanes are very very hard to see
against white snow-capped mountains. Sometimes,
you'll see the SHADOW of the airplane better than you will
the airplane itself. So maintaining visual contact
is of key importance.
The group stuck together for this leg, and soon we were
cruising down the Harding Ice Field. The tops of the
mountains that spawn all of these glaciers are topped with
literally HUNDREDS of feet of snowcover. What looks
like tiny moutains sticking up through the snow is
actually a large mountain, but there's so much snow
between all the peaks filling the valleys that it makes
the mountain look tiny.
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I could hardly believe my eyes as we flew along...the
scenery was some of the most breathtaking that I've ever
seen, let alone flown through. If you go to Alaska,
you don't want to miss this area...Homer to Seward was
some of the best stuff we ever got to see!
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To the North were valleys and peaks and scattered clouds,
and if we needed out, it was largely doable. To the
South was undercast mostly, with the occasional glimpse of
an inlet on the Seward/Whittier side of the
peninsula. I think having the clouds actually made
this leg far more enjoyable than if it had been totally
clear. The snow was so ultra thick at some of the
tops, that if it were steep, the snowcap would crack and
avalanche down into the valleys, where they would then
form into glaciers.
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With the weather being fairly good, but overcast and
slightly worse conditions ahead, we had a choice...take
the quick route to Anchorage, or the scenic route.
The scenic route meant we'd have to make a mountain pass
that was potentially overcast above, but we opted for that
way anyway. When we got up to it, there was a little
dip between 2 peaks, with overcast clouds above, leaving
about 100-200' of gap that we had to shoot through to get
to the other side. It was intimidating at first, but
we shot right through the gap and the mountain fell away,
leaving us flying high above the next valley enroute to
Anchorage. Soon enough we were along Turnagain Bay,
and saw the Dall Sheep along the cliffs.
Again, at Anchorage (Merrill Field), Dale had made great
arrangements for the group. They had NOTAM'd off the
camping area, so each plane got it's own airplane campsite
to park in. He also arranged for the rental car
agency to pick us up right there, so we could go rent
cars, and the hotel (Millenium) to pick up the non-drivers
and take them to the hotel to check in.
One of the following days, we took a tour of the Merrill
Field tower, which was pretty cool for the kids and for
us. They got to see how the sectors are divided, and
what is all on the screens of ATC, and see them in action.
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Once again, after landing, everyone else wanted to go
scramble to the hotel, but we looked at the great weather
and thought that maybe it would be our last shot at seeing
Mt. McKinley (Denali). So we piled back in the plane
and topped off, and headed out to see if we could get
close. The weather was overcast inland again, so we
wanted to see the TOP for sure, so we climbed up and got
on top at 10,500' and headed straight for the
mountain. You can see it FAR in the distance by
plane, and it is a HUGE mountain. In fact, even
though it isn't the tallest in the world, it is either the
biggest or one of the biggest in total size. The
thing sticks up from the ground like a massive ship of
rock sailing on the cloudy seas.
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As we got closer, we lucked out, as indeed the layer of
clouds became broken and scattered near the
mountain. We took some photos on top, and then
spiraled down onto Ruth Glacer and headed back up the
mountain while sightseeing the glacier.
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I don't think I was quite prepared for the awesome sights
along Ruth Glacier. It was totally different than the ones
by Homer. This was much longer and larger, with different
rocky peaks on each side, with clouds surrounding their
tops. They looked like cloud topped castles in the
sky. It was completely awesome!
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Coming down the glacier again, we were amazed by how the
ice and dirt comes up with it's own formation. There
are areas where the glacier leaves a well formed dirt berm
on the side that looks neater than if an earth mover had
plowed it there. Then down the center of the glacier
there were a couple of stripes of dirt in straight and
constant berms. one was dark, and one was
light...obviously being two different types of rock.
How they formed in that perfect line was just amazing to
us. After flying this flight we were VERY glad we
did it. It was awesome, and the weather never did get good
enough again to go see Denali.
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