60North: February 2010

Monday, February 15, 2010

President's Day Weekend

On Saturday,Sean and I headed north to try our hand at burbot fishing on a lake we found near Talkeetna. Based on the bathymetry we had chosen a spot near the middle of the lake that we wanted to try. As we approached, we realized that someone on a snow machine had taken our spot so we landed at the outlet end of the lake. We set three set lines and tried jigging in a few other spots. I had one fish on...but lost it. Otherwise, we got skunked. It was a beautiful and sunny day, though.

Then, on Sunday, after Michelle cut my hair, I talked her into taking a ride up to Donkey Lake to check on Heidi's cabin. Later this week, Heidi and I will fly up there and I wanted to check on conditions and make some trails up to the cabins. We had a slow flight up with a strong headwind and a quick flight back. We met the owner of the lodge on the lake and he was beginning to put in an airstrip on the snow with his snow machine. We landed in the middle of the lake and walked up to the cabins with snow shows.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Out for a Sunday Drive

A couple weeks ago, I got the skis installed on my plane and, since, have been learning to pick landing spots. As many tell me, skis are easy to fly but also extremely easy to get stuck. As a result, I carry a shovel, snow shoes, rope, ice anchors, a come-along, and enough warm clothes/sleeping bag to spend a night stuck somewhere, just in case.

Yesterday, I left Lake Hood and flew north to Yensus Lake and Donkey Creek Lake to check on cabins that a friend owns.

View Sunday Fly in a larger map

After over-flying both lakes, I spent some time looking for lakes to practice landings. As I was looking around the mouth of the Susitna River, I heard three friends departing Lake Hood. I met up with them and we flew north to visit a cabin. I followed Kent and Paul, drug the strip twice to get a feel for the snow, and came in and landed. Heather landed a few minutes later. We spent some time at the cabin and got ready to go. As usual, I had a small mechanical issue (solenoid) that delayed my departure. After hand-propping the plane, the issue resolved itself and I departed and headed back to Lake Hood.