From: rob@ucsco.ucsc.edu (99708000)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Trip report to Alaska
Date: 22 Aug 92 05:15:06 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsco.ucsc.edu



Went to Alaska again this year.   

Got hooked up briefly with netter Rick Furniss and his family.
They are from Rigby, Id., and I met them at Abbosford, BC.
We both were flying 210s, and went up the Fraser together.
Hmm, it's interesing flying thru a ragged hole in loose formation
when you've never done that before.

We camped at MacKenzie and went on to Ft. Nelson the next day.
Rick's family wasn't too into camping--and I think Rick peeked
at the chart and noticed just how far it was to Tuktoyaktuk--
so we parted ways there.

Prolly just as well--a short hop to Ft. Liard NWT (not Liard
Hot Springs, which is much better known) and we got into
horrendous skeeters.

Next day, after paying almost $4.00/gal for gas, we tried for
Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, but didn't make it.  I got lost
for 30 min. over Nahanni Provicial Park.
Nahanni is very interesting--the South Nahanni river cut through   
mountains as they were being uplifted, and kept up with them--so
we have a river that runs more or less at right angles to major ridges.
This results in fantastically narrow gorges through the MacKenzie
Mountains.  The park also has a large and unusual waterfall
(Virginia)--waterfalls are rare in the arctic.
I should mention that Loran doesn't work here, and I didn't have
Satnav.  Needless to say, VOR/DME wasn't available, either,
so it was just pilotage and dead reckoning. (NDBs didn't even help).
Well, I was tired, and frankly, I was afraid I might get lost
again trying to thread my way through the MacKenzie Mountians,
so I diverted to Watson Lake--that's only about >500 miles<
from the intended destination.  On the way, we saw the crest
of the MacKenzie Mountains (impressive) and the airport
at Tungsten, which I want to visit some time.
Tungsten is an abandonded mine with an airport--supposedly it
has a hot spring.  You can call for permission to land and
camp on the Tungsten Channel, the number is 2M5155 (you can
do this from a regular phone, but you obviously have to have
"operator assistance", it's a radio telephone).
I wish we had gone ahead and landed there for the night as
Watson Lake wasn't much fun.

Went to Eagle, Ak. next day.  This town at the end of a 65 mi.
dirt road has an international airport (it's just across the 
border).
I highly recommend this town if you are flying (it's a real
bitch to get to driving).  It's, umm, dripping with history--
the historic buildings never burned down, as so many of them
have in our historic towns both in Ak and the lower 48.
Customs met me at the airport--he was driving a nearly mint
1935 car (forget what kind), wore a dirty plaid shirt and
running shoes--this was a United States Immigration and
Naturalization Service Customs Agent ON DUTY.  I thought of asking
for a badge for a sec., but he had the familiar paperwork,
and that was more impressive than any badge he could have
produced...  He was also the town postmaster.

Spent a couple of days there--included a brief canoe trip
on the Yukon River.  Also transferred the plane from the
fairly reasonable airport to a breathtaking strip right next
to the town. (it's not on the chart).  There was a C180
parked there that was ready for anything--it had one
wheel and one ski!

Next was Circle Hot Springs, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna.
Only thing worth mentioning is there is a dandy campground
at FAI, but FAI gets busy in the middle of the night--
you had better be a VERY sound sleeper.  I bailed out.

The wx had really not been very good, but it got just
barely good enough at Talkeetna that "the mountain"
was out.  I was surprised that I got the plane to claw (it's
not turboed) up to 18,400 for very nice views of McKinley,
Foraker, and Huntington.

On to Homer, an interesting artist community, and, if
you are a fisherperson, home to 50 lb++ salmon and
100 lb ++ halibut.  Also saw Mt. Spurr on the way--it's
the one dumping ash now on Anchorage, but it wasn't particularly
impressive.

Anchorage was next--didn't find much interesting there.

Tried next for McCarthy.  This settlement is in an old copper
mining district and it has been pretty much cut off from
cars since the '64 quake did in a bridge.
Wx folded up just past where I could tell Gulkana FSS I
was diverting.
Diverted on down the Copper River (another huge diversion),
and thought about Cordova--but the lower Copper was clogged with
fog, so that didn't look too hot (I was out of radio contact
with anyone in this canyon to ask for wx at Cordova).
Ended up flying up the Allen Glacier (spectacular) and asking
for an approach to Valdez (fuzzy thinking here--I didn't compare
the ifr procedures at Valdez vs. Cordova, and didn't ask for conditions
at Cordova when able).

Turns out, the ifr stuff at Valdez is desperation stuff as it is
surrounded on 3 sides by mountains.  MDA on the LDA DME-C (the
only public approach) is 4,200 agl.  I made it in without any
problem, but I made an ass of myself by not cancelling ifr early--
ended up with me on base and a MarkAir Dash-8 on the ground asking 
FSS "what's the hold up?"--it was me.

Next day I tried to get to Yakutat via the NAKED2.NAKED departure.
Didn't make it.
This SID contains the following: "Proceed VFR from Valdez airport to	
Bligh Int.  Cross Bligh at or above 1,200'" (incidentally, the Exxon
Valdez came to grief near Bligh Int).  "Distance from Valdez Apt
to Bligh Int 28 nm."  This is FAA approved scud running for 28
miles at 1200 over salt water.  Yumm.
Next day, I tried the "regular" ifr departure, which is just about as silly:
"Climb VFR, cross D4.0 IVDZ LDA SW bound at or above 3,500. Continue
climb"...etc.
Somehow, I made that one after failing to make the 1,200' scud running
one the day before.   

I had filed for V319 at 9,000--freezing level was forecast at 10,000--
got cleared at 11,000.  Well, I thought I'd humor them, and climbed
to 11,000.  Sho 'nuf, light to moderate rime.  Asked for 9,000--
cleared to that--not enough--asked for 7,000.  "Sorry Sir, can't give
you below 9,000."  My thinking got fuzzy again as I didn't call him
on that--the MEA is 10,000, but the MOCA is only 5,500--I suppose
I should have told him I'd handle my own nav (Jeez, even at 10,000
there was one of those broken boxes that means there isn't 100% nav
coverage...).
Next, I got a clearance I thought I would never hear--"28SS cleared
to Yakutat via the Hinchinbrook NDB and Amber One".  That's a
clearance for an NDB airway--they don't exist anymore in the lower 48
but there are still a few in Ak and Canada--oh, well, kinda like
a 200 mi. NDB approach.  At least it was for 7,000.
Less than a minute after that clearance, he calls me back and tells
me the Yakataga NDB is OTS and how am I going to identify the ATAGA
intersection.  I dunno.  Actually, I could have by the bearing
to the Ocean Cape NDB at Yakutat, but that didn't occur to me at the time
probably because I knew in the back of my mind that that would have
been very inaccurate because the differences in bearing was only
5 degrees--but in hindsight that wouldn't have made much difference
as identifying it precisely was not necessary in this case.
Sooo, here comes clearance #3--"Fly heading 080, radar vectors to
V440, cleared to Yakutat via V440".
The rest of the flight was uneventful, but, egad, V440 involved flying
>50 miles< out over the Gulf of Alaska.  How would you IFR veterans
have handled this differently?

Wanted to camp at one of the Forest Service strips near Yakutat,
but it was raining, so we bagged that and scud ran to Sitka.
Sitka has more cruise ship tourists than residents in summer...,
but it's interesting none-the-less.

Next day wx was much better and we were able to fly the Frederick Sound
and the Baird Glacier to gawk at Mt. Ratz, Devils Thumb, and Kates
Needle.  These are spectacular mountains that are interesting to
climbers, but are seldom climbed because the wx is often wretched
for weeks on end.  Funny how the wx was bad in the good wx places
and vice-versa on this trip.

Stayed in Ketchican, and then flew the rest of the coast route in
improving wx.  Picked our way along the channels and fiords (I
think that's spelled wrong, but that's how "Misty Fiords" NP is
spelled on the chart.)
Up the Burke Channel (whoa, there is >>NO<< reasonable place for a forced
landing around here--the best you could do is ditch in salt water
near what doesn't pass for a shore).
Past Bella Coola, the wx was great, and we were able to fly the crest of the
coast range from the Talchako River to Monarch Mtn. and Mt. Waddington.
On to Renton, Wa. where for some reason the tower doesn't have radar
even though it is only a few miles from a MAJOR airport--Seatac.

Next day we gawked at about 200 people climbing Mt. Rainier, and then
it was off to Memaloose, Or.  This baby is right on the rim of Hell's
Canyon, and I recommend it.  Next day was home--bye.
-- 

-Rob Strand

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