60North

Ski Flying Safari 2010

2010-04-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I decided to take a day of leave to do some flying. It felt like winter was rapidly coming to a close and I better get some flying in while the skis were still on the plane. As I got to the airport, I called Paul to see what he was doing. "We're going flying. I'm at the airport right now" was his reply so at noon, I took off and met up with Paul, Clint, and Kim over Potter Marsh. We headed across Turnagain Arm to Hope and then up to Resurrection Pass. After flying through the pass, we landed at Juneau Lake.

There is a great cabin at Juneau Lake.

Taking off from Juneau Lake, we headed to Kenai Lake, flying over the lake and south to Lost Lake (just north of Seward). At Lost Lake, I followed everyone and landed last. The snow was deeper than at Juneau Lake.

From Lost Lake, we followed the highway and, then the railroad, back towards Anchorage. Along the way, we stopped at Spencer Glacier to transfer some fuel from Paul to Kim.

Leaving Spencer Glacier, we overflew Alyeska Ski Resort (since Verena was skiing there...she saw our flight of four as we passed) and we returned to Anchorage through Powerline Pass. It was a great day of flying and turned out to be my last day of ski flying for 2010. Overall, I got 25.8 hours of ski flying since January 23rd!

It has been pretty warm and there was a puddle of water forming under my plane, so I opted to get off the lake and switch back to tires. On Thursday, I taxied over to the public ramp and jacked the plane up and switched back to tires.

President's Day Weekend

2010-02-15T09:12:00.001-08:00

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.

Out for a Sunday Drive

2010-02-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

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.

Paul's Plane

Kent

Heather and Coal enjoying the snow

I'm pretty lucky to have friends who are willing to help out and let me tag along.

West Side of Cook Inlet -- Looking Back

2009-12-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

Like last year, I spent a little time on the west side of Cook Inlet this summer/fall. This year, however, it was a combination of work and play. Last year, I fished the Kustatan River with Sean Burril and Michelle on a couple different trips.

In March and April of this year, Mt Redoubt was erupting and in the process caused a couple of lahars (volcanic mudflows) that covered the floor of the Drift River valley and sent ash clouds to the north, west, and east (depending on the wind during each event). You can read more about the volcano and eruption at the Alaska Volcano Observatory:

Redoubt Volcano at AVO

Chris Waythomas of the AVO and I received some funds to examine the impacts of the lahars on fish and aquatic habitats of the Drift River. In addition, Dan Young of Lake Clark National Park worked with me (and found funding for a helicopter and my travel to Port Alsworth) to look at potential ashfall impacts outside of the Drift River valley.

I flew to Port Alsworth in July and Dan and I spent a couple days flying around streams near Mt Redoubt. We revisited sites where fish had previously been encountered, measured water quality, and surveyed some sites to improve the map of known fish bearing streams. We saw some spectacular sites and I really enjoy working with Dan in the field.

Departing Port Alsworth:

Dan measuring water quality:

Tuxedni Bay:

Then, in August, Chris Waythomas and I spent a couple days doing the same thing on the Drift River. Where the sites Dan and I visited were not greatly impacted, the Drift River sites were severely impacted.

Mt Redoubt from the Upper Drift River:

Lahar deposits near the volcano:

A site we could not sample because of quicksand:

Chris W. documents lahar deposits near in the lower Drift River:

Following a channel that did contain coho salmon:

A site covered by lahar deposits:

There were still bears:

Then, in August and September, I went back for fun. I fished the McArthur River with Sean Burril and John Seigle during on three different trips.

Our ride on a McArthur River sand bar:

Sean flyfishing for coho salmon:

We ran into Heather, Paul, and Coal:

John hooks a fish as Paul is landing:

John with a nice fish:

Then, late in August, Paul and Brianna Anderson and Dennis Marks and I tried our luck on the Kustatan River. We didn't catch any fish but we did have a great evening. And for me, it was fun because there was someone else taking some pictures!

Brianna and I fish for coho salmon:

Headed to the Kustatan:

I hope to get back a little more, next year. I will definitely be doing some more work on Drift River and will spend a little more time fishing a few more streams in that area.

See my Flickr page for a few more pictures.

Also read about proposed coal mines just north of these streams: Here

Confessions

2009-11-30T19:15:00.001-08:00

Hi. My name is Chris and I'm going to start (gulp) ice fishing. I tell myself that it is just an excuse to fly somewhere to do something. But, really, I want to catch some burbot. So, this is the year that I will finally put my plane on skis. I have had them for two years but because of modifications that I needed to make, I haven't been able to put the skis on. This year, everything is in perfect alignment...and it is going to happen. A friend has offered to let me park my plane on Lake Hood (right in front of their cabins so I will have electricity). The plane is ready to go.

Watch the Lake Hood Webcam...you might even see me take-off:

http://alaskaairmen.org/index.php?pagename=web-cam

Now, I just have to head to the sporting goods store and stock up on supplies. Let's see, I need a little ice fishing rod, some tackle, and an ice auger.

I'll post more when I actually get out there...really. I promise. You won't want to miss the excitement!

Travel Rant!!!

2009-10-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Bear with me...I have a rant. I travel quite a bit. Fortunately, I can usually tap into my Scandinavian Zen to maintain my calm. It usually works...I just don't worry about the guy who doesn't take his laptop out until he puts his case on the x-ray belt, the guy who acts like his lighter shouldn't be setting off the metal detector, or the family with 42 carry-on items. It just isn't worth it...I will get to my plane with plenty of time, just go with the flow.

There is one thing that really gets me...and it shouldn't...but it does. "Pillow Girls"...you've seen them. It seems to be a trend. Usually 16 to 27 years old. They are usually wearing sweats with a word emblazoned across their ass (Pink is the most common), slippers, hair in a pony tail, a pissy look on their faces (that usually says...I got up early and I don't like morning), and they are carrying a damn pillow. They look like they just got up from bed, complained about having to be up so early, grabbed the pillow and their carry on, and shuffled off to the airport.

What ever happened to dressing for travel? Granted, I don't dress up for travel...but I sure as damn well don't wear my pajamas!

Short Trip to Homer

2009-07-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

"If you have time to spare, go by air." Paul Anderson

Yesterday, I thought I would take a quick trip to Homer to help a grad student who is working on salmon in the Fox River estuary that flows into the head of Kachemak Bay. My plan was to leave Anchorage between 7 and 8 in the morning, arrive Homer around 9:30, work on otolith preparation methods for a few hours, and be back to Anchorage by 4 or 5 in the afternoon. No problem.

Forest fires on the Kenai Peninsula are causing haze and smoke throughout the region and a temporary flight restriction is in place on the north shore of Tustumena Lake. In order to avoid the TFR, I planned on flying right down the mountains to Homer. I got a flight briefing and filed my flight plan when I got to Lake Hood. Then, I took off and headed south. As I crossed Turnagain Arm, the visibility was roughly 7 to 10 miles, so everything looked good. Between Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake, the visibility improved dramatically, so I decided to call flight service with a Pilot Report (PIREP). Just after I relayed my PIREP, my radio crapped out. Dead. Nothing. Damn. I worked through everything I could think of and couldn't fix the problem. No real problem, though. I got to Homer, overflew the field and entered the pattern following a plane in the pattern. After landing, I tried a few more things and found the radio to be dead with no hope of repair.

In Homer, I called a friend and we worked through the radio issues but didn't come up with anything I hadn't already tried. So, I worked on the otolith prep methods with the student and, around 4 got back to the airport to head home. I found someone (a complete stranger) who loaned me a small handheld radio. I got a briefing from flight service, filed a flight plan, got fuel, and was ready to roll at about 6pm. But, the handheld wouldn't transmit from inside the plane. I figured, I would get to Anchorage and squawk 7600 (code for lost com) on my transponder once I got to Anchorage. I tried to retrace my route along the mountains, but turned back as I approached Tustumena Lake. Visibility was less than 3 miles and it looked worse ahead. I flew back to Homer. I canceled my flight plan and after another briefing, decided to fly up the coast and cut between Soldotna and Kenai airports. Then head straight to Turnagain Arm and into Anchorage.

I called Anchorage Tower and asked for a no-radio arrival. They gave me a transponder code to squawk as I approached the Lake Hood airspace and said they would give me a light gun signal to land. That was great. I opened my flight plan, took off, and headed along the coast.

I arrived into Anchorage, got the light gun signal as I crossed the Tudor Overpass as promised, and landed. There was a layer of smoke over Anchorage. I called Flight Service to close my flight plan and called Michelle to let her know I was home. It was 9 pm. So much for that quick trip to Homer.

Time off for good behavior

2009-06-30T16:25:00.001-07:00

I'm taking some time off of work. I've been flying, working on the shop, and doing little else. It has been pretty nice. Tomorrow, I'm headed to Chitina to dipnet with John and Jeff. I will post more, then.

Here is a photo from my first landing at the picnic bench strip near Knik glacier.

Time to Update!!!

2009-06-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking. I vow to begin posting again.

Really....

Kustatan River Coho Salmon Fishing

2008-08-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

After spending a long day, yesterday, floating the Matanuska River for work, I took the day off and went fishing on the Kustatan River. Sean Burril joined me and we left Anchorage around 1pm and arrived at the Kustatan at around 3. It took us a little while to find the airstrip, but when we did we were the only plane there. A few minutes later another plane landed. We were a little late (or early) to catch the right tide to fish but we did okay, anyway. I caught a fish within the first 30 minutes and we both limited out (three fish) by 7:30. It was a great day.

My limit of coho.

There were only two other planes, for most of the day. Then, around 6:30, three more planes showed up. We left at 8.

There were clearly some bears in the area.

The horse flies were fierce!

Sean fishing.

This bear wandered by just as we were ready to leave....really there is a bear in this picture!

On the way home. You think someone might have been nice enough to tell me that I had mud on my face!

It was pouring rain and there was a rainbow as we landed back at Lake Hood at 9pm.

4th of July in Fairbanks

2008-07-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, I had plans to go plane camping with friends. Originally, we planned on going to Beluga Lake where Paul, Verena, and Brianna camped and saw a bear. See http://verenagill.blogspot.com/2008/06/briannas-beluga-bear.html for a description of the area and its attractions. We planned on putting Brianna on bear watch, so there would be no surprises. On the 3rd, I flew out to Beluga to practice landing at the camping spot (so I would look like a pro when I went in there with a passenger) and found it blowing near 40 miles an hour. I didn't even land.

At that point, Verena came up with plan 2. There are three dead whales washed up in Kamishak Bay (across the inlet from Homer) and lots of bears are there feeding on the whales. We could fly down, watch the bears, and then find another beach to camp. That sounded GREAT. I could get some great pictures of bears. I was on board for that trip.

That evening (the 3rd), Paul was on his way back from somewhere to the north and called Verena from Fairbanks. It was 80 degrees and sunny there. Why would we go anyplace else?, Paul asked. No one had a good answer to that question, so it was settled, on the 4th, we would meet at Paul's hanger at 11:00 and head north to Manley or Chena Hot Springs.

Michelle didn't feel up to sitting in the plane for 4 hours, so I was flying solo. A friend of Verena and Paul's (Tamara) was going to ride with them, so she opted to ride with me.

At the time, Tamara probably thought this was a good idea. After landing at Chena Hot Springs, she probably wondered why she didn't fly with Paul. We headed north, and had some great scenery on the way. At one point, we thought we would go high and direct to Chena Hot Springs, but some thunder storms got in our way, so we headed through Windy Pass. It was great for me to fly with Paul and learn about the pass and other routes. We got to Chena Hot Springs and Paul landed first. The strip is in a valley and it was pretty windy. I did one low pass and was too high and fast to land, so I went around. On the second attempt, it all came together (with a hard forward slip on short final).

Once on the ground, we headed in to the resort to do some swimming. Apparently, when I was in the restroom, Paul got chewed out for landing there (they like to have a call and give permission to land). After the guy was done with his scolding, Paul asked, "Where should we park?" "Right there is fine." And, with that, I think we had permission.

We swam in the hot springs and soaked up sun for a couple hours and then, headed to Fairbanks. We flew to Fairbanks International, tied down the planes, and Ed (a friend of Paul, Verena, and Tamara's) came by to pick us up. We headed to Ed and Nikki's, where we had a nice BBQ and conversation until 2am.

The next day, I got up around 7:30 and enjoyed coffee in the sun. As everyone began to stir, we started talking about what we might want to do that day. We discussed everything from going to Kobuk sand dunes (near Kotzebue) to going to Cordova and Lake Minchumina. In the end, we decided that we needed to have lunch, so around 2, we spent an hour trying to figure out what kind of pizza to order. After pizza, we still tried to decide where we might go but didn't come up with a new location. Around 5, we decided that we needed some ice cream. In the end, we headed back to the airport (with a short stop for ice cream). I had a mechanical issue (brake line leaked fluid) so we spent about an hour working on that. Finally, at around 8pm, we were off and headed back to Anchorage.

From Verena's camera:

We got back to Birchwood (Paul's Hanger) at about 11:30 and I dropped Tamara off. I flew on to Lake Hood and landed at about midnight. It was a great trip. We got sun and warm weather. I came back sun-burned.

Chitna Dipnetting 2008

2008-07-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, after work, John, Jeff, and I loaded up my truck and headed to Chitna to dip net for salmon. We had a good trip (we caught more fish than anyone else using the charter boats that day). We came home with 46 sockeye salmon. I lost a NICE Chinook salmon and we probably lost at least another 20 fish that fell out of the nets as we tried to lift them from the water. This is truly extreme dip netting as we were tied off to trees with safety ropes and fishing from a spot about 15 - 20 feet above the water. It was a beautiful day, with clear skies and 80 degrees.

Jeff and John Fishing

In line for the charter boat at 4:30 am. The guy sitting on the trailer in the left of the picture was on his third Pabst Blue Ribbon when I took the picture.

Looking up the Copper River and the charter boats that deliver dip netters to fishing spots.

A view of our fishing spot.

Jeff

John fishing

Some of our salmon (we caught 46).

The boat comes to pick us up at 5:00 pm.

By 7:00 pm, we had all the fish filleted, packed the truck, and started driving back to Anchorage. We stopped in Glennallen for dinner. At about midnight, we were just outside Eagle River and I made the comment that I should be extra careful as it seems most moose collisions that I hear about happen as someone is making a late night trip back from dip netting. Just then, I see a moose and calf cross the highway in front of us...no big deal. Luckily, I was watching the right, rather than looking at the moose..as calf number 2 darts out right in front of us. I was able to swerve and we didn't hit the calf.

We had a great trip. I will probably make this an annual trip.

Kwethluk River Field Camp

2008-06-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

I just got back from 9 days in the field. I was on the Kwethluk River, where we have a project to estimate the abundance of juvenile chum salmon migrating from the river. I wasn't supposed to come home for another couple days, but the fish counts were winding down, so we decided to end the project for the year.

We work out of a camp that is established for the Kwethluk River weir (where they count adult fish going upstream). That crew came in as we were leaving. We had a cook tent and several sleeping tents, so it was pretty comfortable. We even had a phone (regular...not sat phone) with a Kwethluk phone number.

I was in camp with Wilson, Sean, and John. Wilson and I were the day crew and Sean and John were the night crew.

We had a mix of weather. One day was as good as it gets...sunny, just warm enough to wear short sleeves, and a slight breeze to keep the bugs down. Sunset was after midnight (see proof below).

The mosquitos were bad on a couple of occasions.

Here is a panorama of the river in front of camp (Click to see it on my flickr page and look at the large version).

I was dreading going in the field for this trip. I don't really like to count fish but I had a good time and I'm looking forward to going out again, next year!

Day 2

2008-05-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today, I finished demolishing the old shed.

Began work on shop

2008-05-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Deconstructing the old shed

Flight of 4 to Tuxedni Bay

2008-04-15T19:51:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, I flew down to Tuxedni Bay with Paul, Heather, Don, and Jody in 4 planes: Super Cub, Family Cruiser, Champ, and Citabria. I made my first landing on a beach (with alot of coaching from Paul and Don). On the way down, I even saw a walrus at the mouth of the Drift River.

My first beach landing.

The beach where we landed.

Line-up on the beach.

Don's plane.

Looking to the east (into Cook Inlet).

Lake Tahoe

2008-04-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

On thursday, I flew to Lake Tahoe (via Reno) to present a paper at the California-Nevada Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. I took a few pictures of the lake as I drove to and from the meeting. I even had a Prius as a rental car.

When I got home, there was about 5 inches of new snow. Here is a movie I made of me shoveling snow. I have a new controller for my camera to do time lapse photography. This is my first attempt and I can see a few things I need to do differently.

Flight to Kenai and Hilltop Skiing

2008-03-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Had a great day, yesterday. I got a call at noon from a friend who needed to drop his plane off in Kenai and needed a ride back to Anchorage. I flew down to pick him up. This was the first time I have landed at Kenai. As I arrived, it was pretty windy but the winds were not too far off the runway heading. It took about an hour to get to Kenai and a little over an hour to get back to Lake Hood.

Taking off from Kenai.

Then, in the evening, John S. and I skied at Hilltop. The sun was going down across the inlet and the mountains above us were lit up. The snow wasn't great but still okay. I wish we had been skiing up here before!

Iditarod 2008

2008-03-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I didn't get the skis installed on my plane so I was left looking at the Iditarod Trail and race from the air. Next year, I will be on skis and will land on the river to watch the race go by. I did see a couple teams.

Michelle's Birthday

2008-02-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

Michelle's Birthday was last week. On her birthday, we went to Fairbanks so I could give a seminar at the University. That evening we had a great dinner with Mark Wipfli at a Thai restaurant. Then, on Saturday, JoAnn, Yvette, Heather, and Jolynne had a party for Michelle. First, we skied out to an overlook at Kincaid Park and decorated with bird treats. You can see a movie here:

http://www.vimeo.com/723408

Sunday's movie

2008-02-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

Flying with Paul

2008-02-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

I was feeling MUCH BETTER, today. I was tired of being around the house and it was a beautiful sunny day (but cold). Paul called at about noon and we decided to make a day of flying in his plane. I flew from Lake Hood to Birchwood. We put my plane in his hangar and headed out. We flew to the north and west and landed a few places. We got back to Birchwood at about 5:30 and I headed straight to Lake Hood arriving just before dark. It was a great day to fly and we didn't see many other planes out there.

I will post a movie, tomorrow.

Australia Hates Me!

2008-02-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what I did to Australia to deserve this, but they are getting back at me hard! I had a flu shot this year and was happily cruising along with no colds or flu. Then, last week, I got hit hard. Apparently, there is a flu strain that originated in Australia that emerged too late to make it into this years flu shot. I got it. And, I didn't know that there were drugs that could have nipped this in the bud, if I had gotten to the doctor in the first 48 hours. Damn...

On Sunday, Michelle did the ski for woman. I thought I was feeling better so I went along and took some photos and video. I should have stayed home. The photos are on my flickr page at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimak

and the video is right here:

Flying with Paul and Clint

2007-12-02T15:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I met Paul and Clint at Paul's hangar at Birchwood and flew north. Total flight time was 3.2 hours and I made a video:

Day Off

2007-10-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

I took the day off. There was a little snow on the ground this morning so I switched the snow tires on both cars. Then, I flew to Willow to do some touch and goes and back to Lake Hood. All in all, it was a great day.

Tomorrow...back to the grind.

Finally....more.

2007-10-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last night Michelle had a birthday gathering to celebrate my 40th birthday (which really happens on the 23rd). Verena gave me grief for not updating my blog...so here it is...an update.

I was going to fly today but the frost never melted on my wings. Since frost on wings is a bad thing, I didn't fly. Instead, Paul took me up his his plane. We visited a couple gravel bars on the Susitna river and I got a great lesson in landing off airport.

Here is Paul arriving at Lake Hood.

Everyone else is doing it!

2007-08-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would join the rest of the gang. More to come later