Katamarino's Alaska flight

[Zeldman]

The museum was not there when I was there. Looking over the back of the Muskox is the building I used to be based at. The building with the cargo door partially open.

Point Hope looks the same. Point Hope is one of the many villages where better than 75% of the population are convicted felons. People talk of their time in prison much as everyone else would talk about a vacation.

Red Dog had a large runway, large enough for B-737 and 727s to land there. It was not paved when I used go in there. The only approach at the time as an NDB approach. Within a 1/2 mile of the runway was a small mountain so full of iron ore that the compass would start turning in circles when near it.

I accidently buzzed a Russian ship at the Red Dog port one day. The weather was really crappy, really crappy. The port is not a deep water port so the big ships have to stay a mile or so off shore, and smaller ships called "lighters" were used to transfer the ore. I was trying to get into Kivalina and as I said the weather was crappy. I was over water and the plan was to find the Red Dog port, turn left and follow the shore line to the airport. The weather turned me further out over the water so when I could I turned towards the shore line. As I was heading towards shore, suddenly a very large ship passed under me. I saw people standing on deck looking up at me. I definitely saw an old and faded sickle and hammer on the smoke stack and the white, blue and red flag. They were probably as surprised as I was.

Again, great pictures.!!! They really bring back some happy memories.

 

[Anymouse]

The museum was not there when I was there. Looking over the back of the Muskox is the building I used to be based at. The building with the cargo door partially open.

Point Hope looks the same. Point Hope is one of the many villages where better than 75% of the population are convicted felons. People talk of their time in prison much as everyone else would talk about a vacation.

Red Dog had a large runway, large enough for B-737 and 727s to land there. It was not paved when I used go in there. The only approach at the time as an NDB approach. Within a 1/2 mile of the runway was a small mountain so full of iron ore that the compass would start turning in circles when near it.

I accidently buzzed a Russian ship at the Red Dog port one day. The weather was really crappy, really crappy. The port is not a deep water port so the big ships have to stay a mile or so off shore, and smaller ships called "lighters" were used to transfer the ore. I was trying to get into Kivalina and as I said the weather was crappy. I was over water and the plan was to find the Red Dog port, turn left and follow the shore line to the airport. The weather turned me further out over the water so when I could I turned towards the shore line. As I was heading towards shore, suddenly a very large ship passed under me. I saw people standing on deck looking up at me. I definitely saw an old and faded sickle and hammer on the smoke stack and the white, blue and red flag. They were probably as surprised as I was.

Again, great pictures.!!! They really bring back some happy memories.

Definitely before my time. I'm pretty sure the Red Dog runway was paved when I was there. Only went in there once and that was as a jump seater on a Reeves 727.

The museum was there, but I never took the time to go in.

Oh, and I believe i worked out of both those hangars, depending pre or post bankruptcy.

 

[Katamarino]

The next morning, conditions were a little better at Point Lay. As usual, we took a walk in to town and visited the store. We also met some members of the local tribal council and spent a little time with them before returning to the airport. Many of the locals had gathered on the apron, as today all four of the graduating high school class were due to fly out to start attending college; unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the aircraft did a fly past and elected not to land! We couldn’t figure out why, as conditions were certainly OK.

Point Lay:

The morning’s flight took us up the coast, steering well clear of charted walrus haulouts, to Barrow; the most northern point of the US.

Along the coast to Barrow:

The cloudbase had lowered a little again and so we requested and were granted a special VFR clearance to land.

Arriving at Barrow:

Barrow was, of course, walkable; but it was strange to see so many cars and other vehicles around after so long visiting villages with almost no traffic.

The famous sign post:

Being tired of flat coast, we decided to push inland to find a camping spot for the night, and headed for Anaktuvuk pass in the northern side of the Brooks range. The weather was great for most of the trip, closing in right at the end just before the arrival.

Headed for the Brooks range:

Weather closing in as we cross the foothills:

Marginal VFR:

As we reached the valley to the pass, things improved again:

On arrival the very friendly local policeman, Daniel, came to see us and told us a bit about the village. The village post office is apparently officially the most isolated one in the entire US.

We set up camp in the now familiar drizzle, but at least it was a few degrees warmer and not blowing a gale!

 

[Zeldman]

You have officially flown the slope. SVFR is the norm there.

I used to fly mail into Anaktuvuk a couple times a week. The people there were always friendly. I went through some less than preferable weather through the pass. A friend of mine hit Twoday Mountain on a bad day as he thought he was exiting the pass and going into Bettles.

I also used to fly mail into Chisana (CZN). Their "post office" was an old sluice box. It was divided into "PO boxes". I would land there twice a week bringing in mail and freight. Usually someone would meet the plane with out going mail. That person would open the mail bags and put the mail in the boxes. In winter the mail was carried by a ski plane.

Great pictures again.!!

 

[Katamarino]

Anuktuvuk village before departure:

The weather the next morning had improved, and we set out north to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. This is an oil town on the north shore of Alaska; there really isn’t anything else at all in Deadhorse. The flight took us over now very familiar tundra.

The Trans-Alaska pipeline:

The haul road, running all the way south to Fairbanks:

On arrival we parked up at Colville aviation who were exceptionally helpful with running us around during our stay, and in sorting out accommodation.

We stayed in the Colville accommodation camp, which was more like a well-appointed, basic hotel. $120/night got us each an en-suite room and meals were included, along with 24/7 snacks and drinks free of charge in the “spike room”. Good value for this part of the world! We took advantage of the free laundry to refresh our clothes.

Equipment movement in Deadhorse:

Comfortable oilfield accommodation:

The next day was Sunday, and in this part of the world, Canada is closed on Sundays (no customs at the only port of entry). We therefore elected for a day trip to Barter Island, which holds the village of Kaktovik, and Arctic Village to take advantage of the good weather.

View of Deadhorse on departure:

Much more sea ice was now becoming evident:

After landing we discovered that a previous arrival hadn’t had such luck. He’d landed fine in strong winds, but had then been flipped while trying to taxi cross-wind to parking.

Kaktovik is renowned for being the “Polar Bear Capital of America”. Officer Tony, the friendly local policeman, met us at the airport as he was conducting his rounds and took us for a tour of the island. Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for the polar bears) the unusually cold summer and long lasting sea ice of this year meant that the bears were all still out on the ice. One young male was spending a lot of time on the spit, but was away while we were there.

Riding an iceberg in the Arctic sea:

Boats were being prepared to try and finally get out if the ice allowed:

The early warning radar station:

The skies were mostly clear so rather than heading directly back to Deadhorse, we doglegged south across the famous Brooks Range to Arctic Village. The scenery was, once again, stunning. I wished we could camp there overnight by the river, but alas, this time the schedule would not allow. From Arctic Village we pushed back across the range to Deadhorse, another free dinner, and the preparations for entering Canada.

Crossing the Brooks Range:

On the ground at Arctic Village:

We met a couple of guys in an R44 flying round picking up rocket fairings and other debris from launches!

Back across the Brooks Range and low down the valley to the flats:

 

[Zeldman]

Lot of "termination dust" on them hills. Time to head south.

I have been to Kaktovik several times and never saw a polar bear. Once I landed and people came running up to me to protect the plane from the polar bears that passed through seconds before I landed. I saw plenty of tracks, but my entire time in Alaska I never saw a white bear.....

 

[FloridaPilot]

The museum was not there when I was there. Looking over the back of the Muskox is the building I used to be based at. The building with the cargo door partially open.

Point Hope looks the same. Point Hope is one of the many villages where better than 75% of the population are convicted felons.

I have never been to Alaska but I hear that a lot about convicted felons. Is that true or just hearsay?

 

[Zeldman]

I have never been to Alaska but I hear that a lot about convicted felons. Is that true or just hearsay?

Not so much in the big three areas, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. Out in the villages it can be true. The majority of convictions are drug and/or alcohol related or something to do with underage girls.

In the majority of villages, alcohol is forbidden. Boot legging is very common which brings a felony conviction when caught, along with drug sales. The individual villages decide if they want to allow alcohol or not. The state doesn't have anything to do with it.

Funny to hear an eskimo talk about their time "in carceration" as if it was a location or summer camp. "When I was in carceration I learned how to knit."

I doesn't paint a pretty picture but most of the time a person would never know it about a person unless someone else told you. The eskimo are a very family orientated, hard working and fun loving people. It is hard for a pilot to be accepted in the group, but once accepted you are in.

 

[Anymouse]

I have been to Kaktovik several times and never saw a polar bear. Once I landed and people came running up to me to protect the plane from the polar bears that passed through seconds before I landed. I saw plenty of tracks, but my entire time in Alaska I never saw a white bear.....

Taken at Barter Island with an el-cheapo 3.2 camera just after engine start...





They were walking down the runway and heading right towards me when I first spotted them. After starting the engine, they started walking towards the village. I understand it's rare to see three polar bears walking together like that.

(Hope I didn't make you jealous!! )

 

[Zeldman]

They were walking down the runway and heading right towards me when I first spotted them. After starting the engine, they started walking towards the village. I understand it's rare to see three polar bears walking together like that.

(Hope I didn't make you jealous!! )

That is an awesome picture.!!!

Of course I totally hate you now...


This was in Barrow, the company I was flying for at the time, Cape Smythe Air Service. Notice the polar bear on the tail of the plane. Of course I was not at the airport when the bear came for a visit.

 

[Katamarino]

The day dawned exactly as the forecast said it would; 200ft overcast in mist. A beautiful day to head to Canada. Thankfully the freezing levels were pretty high, so we filed IFR to Inuvik for our entry to Canada. From there we’d keep heading way, way east to Cambridge Bay, a total for the day of just over 1,000 nautical miles.

The overcast was only a few hundred feet thick and soon we were covering yesterday’s ground again, but pushing on past Barter Island and into Canada.

The landing at Inuvik was uneventful, and we called Canadian Immigration as normal. This took a little longer than usual as we had a rifle on board, but after a while they took all the required info, and their $25 fee, and we fueled up. Not long after this a couple of Mounties turned up, having been asked to come and check things out themselves. They performed a cursory inspection of the aircraft, and a very thorough inspection of the rifle, and sent us on our way. Both were very friendly and professional!

The inspection of the rifle:

From here, we flew three short legs of a couple of hours each, running east to Cambridge Bay. The terrain was not terribly varied but beautiful, and seriously remote.

Snow showers to be dodged; it was getting cold.

Landing at dusk. Luckily, the days are long up here in August.

Camp set up for the night. The next day we’d start the big push north.

 

[Anymouse]

This was in Barrow, the company I was flying for at the time, Cape Smythe Air Service. Notice the polar bear on the tail of the plane. Of course I was not at the airport when the bear came for a visit.

When Yute got shut down the first time (for me anyway), I applied with Smythe simply because of the logo. The DO at the time, Wayne Meyer, didn't hire me. I made sure to point that out to him several times when we flew together at Yute.

 

[Katamarino]

With temperatures dropping down to around freezing, it was a chilly night! Due to an error with time zones I was up an hour early, and only realized once I had made it to the offices of the Kitnuna Corporation. I had corresponded with one of their managers, Dave, in advance to ensure availability of AVGAS. We took care of the paperwork, and a few of his employees accompanied me back to the airport together with two drums of AVGAS.

This was our first time refueling from drums, and we rapidly discovered that the plastic hose I had bought became entirely solid when very cold, and was curled in a circle. We fought it for a very long time, eventually managing to get the tanks filled. We had half a drum left, to be picked up on the way back south in a couple of days! This done, we headed north to Resolute Bay!

Musk Ox at Cambridge Bay:

The arrival of the AVGAS:

Ken Borek Air has some very cool aircraft serving the north. Their pilot gave us some tips on getting to Resolute.

The 387nm flight was uneventful. We island-hopped to minimize our exposure time over water.

As we headed further north, it became much more icy:

Coming in to land at Resolute:

Aziz, our AVGAS supplier at Resolute, met us at the airport a few minutes after arrival. He was extremely responsive and helpful! We used his much nicer pump setup to refill the tanks, and got set up at the nearby airport hotel. Both AVGAS and hotel were eye-wateringly expensive, but what else can you expect this far north? Logistics costs rule up here!

Resolute Airport Hotel:

Very nice accommodation!

With tanks and fuel containers all filled, we had 130 gallons on board. I parked the airplane up and we settled down for the night. Little did I know, I had broken my golden rule and left the fuel selector on both – and the airplane was parked on a cross-slope…

 

[flyingcheesehead]

What is that wacky red "surveillance" plane with the four engines and the little pod on top???

Beautiful! Looks like you're in the Bahamas.

Little did I know, I had broken my golden rule and left the fuel selector on both – and the airplane was parked on a cross-slope…

"To Be Continued..."

 

[Katamarino]

We were up early, in the hope that this would be the big day we made it to Eureka! The weather looked promising, so we packed quickly, grabbed a snack from the breakfast room, and headed out. Arriving at the airplane I was a little disconcerted to see a large blue frozen patch on the ground, blue spatter all over the airplane, and a steady stream of AVGAS issuing forth from the left wing. Crap.

Morning in Resolute Bay:

Uhoh:

We made things right, and assessed the situation. The one time in my flying career that I broke my rule (I changed off of “both” when I initially shut down, but not when I restarted again to shift the airplane), and we’d ended up losing about 20 gallons of the most expensive AVGAS I’d ever purchased. Some quick calculations showed that we would, at least, still have the fuel to get to Eureka and all the way back to Cambridge Bay without needing another $1,400 barrel. Thank goodness for the flexible fuel containers that I’d bought, they tipped the balance!

The flight up to Eureka started off similar to the previous day, but as we passed the half way point the flat terrain started to gain some features and relief. The final 100nm took us up a long fjord to Eureka, which is an Environment Canada research station. The lady on the radio seemed a little surprised to have a C182 call up for landing.

My nice blue strut on departure:

Snowy plateau:

Once you get far enough north, the 430W decides that you don’t need a basemap anymore:

Into the fjord for the final run to Eureka:

The runway was in good condition. First things first, after landing we got the fuel containers out and filled up. As we were doing this the station manager turned out to say hello. He was very welcoming and told us a bit about the place. They had just hauled in hundreds of tons of rock ready to re-gravel the runway, a huge logistical undertaking! Additionally, there was apparently a film crew in from National Geographic for a few weeks, looking for wolves!

Meeting the station manager:

Local wildlife:

After looking around a bit, it was time to get going and run south. Best to make the most of things while the weather is good. The first leg had us retrace our steps to Resolute Bay.

The research station and strip at Eureka:

Cruising higher back towards Resolute:

Aziz met us at the airport to transfer the last of the drum into the airplane. That left us with plenty of fuel to get to Cambridge Bay; but, there’d be a point of no return beyond which we would not be able to get back to Resolute. An hour or so out, we’d be fully committed to Cambridge Bay. Discussions with the weather briefer led to a decision that this was an acceptable risk, and we departed, flying at maximum economy and burning barely 10 gallons an hour.

Several long and occasionally tense hours later, we were back in Cambridge Bay! Along the route I had made good use of the Garmin InReach to check TAFs and METARs, even when 200nm from the nearest settlement. Truly an excellent piece of kit for this type of adventure. Despite the fact that Cambridge Bay is incredibly remote, after the last couple of days we felt like we were back in well-travelled ground.

 

[CC268]

Thanks for sharing all this. So cool...reminds me of "Sailing La Vagabonde" on YouTube, except your flying! It's refreshing to see someone out there enjoying the world. You take any video or just photos?

 

[Zeldman]

Again, great pictures.!!!

You have been much further north than I ever was. These pictures are getting my adventurous side roaring to go again.!!

 

[nrpetersen]

This would make an incredible coffee table book - at least for pilots. I have immensely enjoyed this tour of northern Canada that previously I've only done with google maps and satellite views. Just amazed you did it with a 182.

 

[Skywalker]

This is such a cool trip! Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[Katamarino]

Thanks for sharing all this. So cool...reminds me of "Sailing La Vagabonde" on YouTube, except your flying! It's refreshing to see someone out there enjoying the world. You take any video or just photos?

Didn't really take any video, sadly. There's a huge step up in terms of the production effort I think! Might be worth doing for next year's round-the-world, if people are interested.

This would make an incredible coffee table book - at least for pilots. I have immensely enjoyed this tour of northern Canada that previously I've only done with google maps and satellite views. Just amazed you did it with a 182.

I actually made a coffee table book of my 4 month medical trip around Africa in a diesel 182! I could do a similar write-up of that if people are interested...?

 

[Katamarino]

The weather at Cambridge Bay was noticeably colder than even just a couple of days ago. James and I carefully checked our phones to ensure we didn’t repeat the time zone error of our previous stop.

Nonetheless, I ended up inadvertently getting up an hour early yet again due to my phone being on the wrong time zone! Still not sure how we screwed up this time. There was freezing rain, snow showers, and a 25kt wind; it was not easy to work up the motivation to leave the sleeping bag.

Another visit to Kitnuna led to another barrel being delivered to the airplane, as well as donation by Dave of a length of better hose to replace our terribly non-flexible plastic stuff. Much easier!

An interesting side project in the Kitnuna vehicle workshop:

Saying goodbye to Dave, the super helpful man from Kitnuna:

Enjoying a snow squall:

Refueling once again from drums:

Three empty drums, time to get going:

Another detailed conversation with the briefer led to a decision to depart for Rankin Inlet once the weather improved in line with the forecasts. We had seen so far on this trip that the weather always seemed to be significantly more fly-able than suggested by the forecasts and briefings; but were working hard not to let ourselves be lulled into a false sense of security! With another 55 gallons on board, a tailwind, and a couple of diversion options (albeit not until 300nm or so in), things were much more comfortable than the last couple of days.

Conditions on the way to Rankin Inlet were as forecast or better, with nothing but a trace of ice picked up in a couple of clouds on descent.

Landing at Rankin Inlet:

On arrival at Rankin, it was blowing a gale. Literally. There were 50kt winds (technically a “severe gale/storm”), thankfully straight down the runway. Taxiing to parking was a little nerve-wracking but we got it done, and set out to acquire the drum that we’d arranged in advance. It was delivered to the airplane and we somehow managed to get most of it into the tanks.

I called a briefer and asked for a VFR weather briefing, headed south. “What’s your destination?” she asked, and laughed when I told her anywhere that would be less windy than here. In the end the plan was just to launch and fly as far as we felt like; the winds would die out after a couple of hundred miles, and we’d find a place to camp.

This turned out to be the airstrip at Ilford; the controller was a little bemused when I asked him to confirm what timezone we were in, but I wasn't intending to screw up a third time. We arrived after dark, my first night landing in quite a while, and set up camp. It was warm and calm, a perfect last night under canvas.

Whitecaps on Hudson Bay:

Bound for Ilford:

The view from my tent on the final night of camping:

 

[CC268]

Didn't really take any video, sadly. There's a huge step up in terms of the production effort I think! Might be worth doing for next year's round-the-world, if people are interested.

I feel ya...video, especially the editing work is a whole different ball game. I've started to shoot some 4K video myself. It is a lot of fun, but it is certainly a lot of work. That said, I didn't realize you've done all these big flying trips. You could certainly have yourself a nice YouTube channel of all your adventures. I know some folks around here don't like the idea of Patreon, but I think it is an awesome idea for media creators.

Of course, if you'd rather just enjoy the trips without all the "hoopla" of creating videos, etc...that is certainly understandable as well.

 

[StevieTimes]

The pictures with the sun reflecting off the bottom of the wing are simply beautiful.

Love reading this adventure, thanks! As I read more and more I keep thinking "Yah that would be scary"... what an amazing journey!

 

[Katamarino]

After a pleasant night’s sleep, it was time for the final few legs. We were well back in to the real world by now. The first flight took us down to just north of Winnipeg to visit my Belgian friend, who some years ago had decided to move to Canada to work as a pilot and bought a quarter section of land in central Manitoba. He’d recently finished putting in his own grass strip, so clearly I had to go and check it out.

Packing up the final camp site:

Morning mist on climb out:

There were some forest fires as we continued south. We double checked again with flight service to make sure no TFRs had popped up.

Visibility was somewhat affected.

Approaching Tribble Ranch:

Arrival at Tribble Ranch:

We spent a relaxing weekend at Joachim’s, just what we needed after a couple of weeks roaming around the arctic.

Time for an oil change in the Tribble Ranch hangar, built by Joachim!

Hanging out on the quarter-section:

Inside a local establishment:

The penultimate flight was the 1+ hour to the Piney Pinecreek border crossing; this runway is half in the US, half in Canada, and the same applies to the ramp; you can clear customs in either direction. This had the pleasing result of making my friend’s new strip an international airport.

From here it was an 800+nm, non-stop leg back to base, just in time for a welcome-home steak dinner at the airport! A good tailwind had us landing after just 6 hours, with 35 gallons left on board.

Departing Tribble Ranch:

Headed for Pittsburgh:

Finally back at base!

Overall, the trip took about 6 weeks, and we covered about 17,000 miles in 152 hours of flying. There are many interesting places up there left to explore and I am thinking of heading back up in summer 2020, hopefully with a few aircraft. If anyone is interested in tagging along, let me know…

The end.

 

[Zeldman]

What an adventure..!!! Thanks for the pictures, they make this old and bold former bush pilot ready to head back north.

But I am no dummy, I will wait for spring...

 

[Anymouse]

What an adventure..!!! Thanks for the pictures, they make this old and bold former bush pilot ready to head back north.

But I am no dummy, I will wait for spring...

It's not quite out of the house yet, but after doing some house cleaning this weekend, my old bib is going to Goodwill in the not too distant future. Guess that means I'm giving up the ghost for heading back. At least during the winter.

I'm still keeping my parka though!

 

[Zeldman]

It's not quite out of the house yet, but after doing some house cleaning this weekend, my old bib is going to Goodwill in the not too distant future. Guess that means I'm giving up the ghost for heading back. At least during the winter.

I'm still keeping my parka though!

I have two pair of bibs, and for some strange reason while in storage both have shrunk and have become too small for me......that's my story and I'm stickin' with it....

I have 2 parkas, one for working outside and one for just keeping warm outside... and keeping both.

Agreed, I have done my time in winter, just summer time in Alaska for me.

 

[benyflyguy]

Great pics. Great little stories on the way. Throughly enjoyed reading every post.

 

[kath]

Wow.
Just...
Wow.
I'm just speechless.
This has all been absolutely captivating.

I'm curious... what fraction of the flying on this trip was IMC?
From the pictures, it looks like very little, but of course no one takes pictures of IMC.

 

[Katamarino]

Officially, less than 30 minutes I'd say!

 

[AKBill]

Hi Ross. How about MVFR.....

 

[AKBill]

How much class G airspace did you fly in?
edit: Awesome pictures, National Geographic quality..

 

[Silvaire]

I agree on the video, it's a completely different ball game. To be interesting it requires an intense amount of choreography and editing, it's very easy to make a boring 10 minute clip and in fact most of them turn out like that. To make a vlog on this journey you have successfully blogged would have taken Herculean effort and I don't think you could have effectively covered the territory you traversed nor could you have enjoyed it due to the tedious labor that would have been required. Doing a blog like this is relatively easy as it just requires a decent point and shoot that you can pull out. Take a million stills and you're bound to get fifty stunners plus you can concentrate on doing the flying and going to all the places you want to go. Also, it's easier to enjoy it as a reader because we can sort through it at leisure, study the shots and not have to sit through minutes of video that we may not have an interest in. Plus we get to READ - fastly becoming a lost skill.

 

[MountainDude]

Thanks for sharing the adventure!

 

[overdrive148]

What a ride!

 

[iamtheari]

I agree on the video, it's a completely different ball game. To be interesting it requires an intense amount of choreography and editing, it's very easy to make a boring 10 minute clip and in fact most of them turn out like that. To make a vlog on this journey you have successfully blogged would have taken Herculean effort and I don't think you could have effectively covered the territory you traversed nor could you have enjoyed it due to the tedious labor that would have been required.

You can be primarily a traveler and only incidentally a photographer and have some good pictures to share as you tell the story of your travels. In order to make a good video end product, you have to be primarily a filmmaker and only incidentally a traveler. I hope @Katamarino continues to travel and to share pictures and (especially) stories. I can't be away from my work for long enough at a time to do anything like this, so I appreciate being able to travel vicariously through these travelogues.

 

[Dave Theisen]

Thanks. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread.

 

[Eric Stoltz]

Thank you for the adventure!

 

[vman]

+1!!

 

[James331]

That was a proper adventure!