Inn i villmarka på alvor.

[Jan Arild Gjemble]

Et lite mellomspill for å utforske litt av Alaskas villmark. Fikk et noe utfordrende vær på siste del av turen. Kombinasjonen tett skydekke og høye fjell er ikke akkurat ideelt med en Beaver, men snirkling mellom toppene og GPS gjør underverker.

 

 

Well.. I got a call from my friend Jake, he was stranded in Haines Junction and needed a flight to Jakes Bar. I had nothing better to do, and could really need the extra hours of mountain flying.

 

The forecast was pretty nice for this early morning flight from Icy Bay to Haines Junction, so i fired up the engine and started climbing.

 

 

 

It's something special to fly over glaciers.. and see mile after mile with thick solid ice beneath you. here I'm passing over Kluane Icefield.

 

 

Suddenly I get caught in heavy dark clouds and I had to go to IFR flight. Thanks for GPS and instruments taking me safe over the mountains and soon I couls safely "dive" down to the Haines Junction Airstrip.

 

 

 

Jake met me at the airport and told me we had to wait until tomorrow before we could continue to Jakes Bar, he was waiting for some russian vodka he wanted to bring back into the wilderness.

 

After an rather late and interesting evening and a huge breakfast Jake and I went out to the airport. Both of us was curious of the weather report. The report we got was that there could be some heavy clouds in the mountains but as soon we passed the mountains it would clear up a bit.

 

Jake and I discussed if we should take the trip today or wait a day or two. Jake the stubborn, told me that he know the mountains and like his own pocket and he had flown this route in much worse weather than this. I was still uncertain, but decided to let Jake guide me thru the mountains if we was clouded in.

 

From Haines Junction the weather was pretty ok, and we had a great departure.

 

 

 

 

We hadn't been enroute for a long time before the weather catched us, and it got worse and worse, still there was some glimps of the landscape and there was some really might sights. You feel small among these huge mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was really happy when we passed the mountains and when the landcape become a bit nicer and not that mighty and the ground way below us. The rest of the flight should just be relaxing until we reached Jakes Bar.

 

 

 

After a while we finally reached the airstrip, well what seems to be an airstrip if you use a magnifying glass. It was small, really small, but this is what bush pilots do, put their aircraft down on a stamp.

 

 

 

I decided to stay here for a couple of days before heading back to Icy Bay. I was eager to know who else of the Alaskan Winds pilots that have reached Icy Bay.

[Petter Tandberg]

Det her var bare vakkert, Jan Arild!