Alaska

[Mark Anderson]

I just completed a 10 day round trip from Huntsville AL to Alaska in my 250. It was the most beautiful trip I have ever taken. It took 2 days each way. We camped in Katmai N.P. And Denali N.P. Landed at MT. Mckinnly airport and flew around the mountain and the glaciers. We saw lots of Grizzlies in Katmai and caught a bunch of Salmon while fishing there. Our route up was: Huntsville, Lincoln NE, Rapid City SD, Great falls MT, Lethbridge , Ft. Saint John, Whitehorse , Anchorage. In Alaska: King Salmon, Kenie , Talkeetna , MT. Mckinnly, Kenie , juneau . On the way back: Juneau, Whitehorse, Prince George, Kalispell MT, Scottsbluff NE, Witchita KS, Huntsville. We flew IFR the whole way except for some VFR flights around Mckinnly. I am saving for next year!

[N3322G]

Sounds fabulous.

[Randy Johnson]

Spectacular. Thats the dream trip for the summer. What are the costs associated with the round trip? Im in Florida and would like to take the same flight

[Mark Anderson]

Randy, I made the trip with two guy friends of mine. It was a little more flying than I could talk the wife into. Although I think now that she has seen the pictures we may make a family trip up next year. We put all of our expenses on one credit card; fuel, food, hotels, fishing license , camping and cabs. We haven't completely settled up yet but it looks like the total is in the 9K $ range. We put right at 55 hours on the plane. I spent about $500 on an EPIRB, survival gear, and some camping supplies before the trip. I will post some photos if I can ever figure out how. So split three ways about 3K $ plus a person. We found out real quick we took too much junk. We stopped in Great Falls, MT and mailed about 80 LBS of stuff back home. We took a Marlin 4570 lever action rifle for protection. The airplane performed vey well. We got into icing on our leg from Whitehorse to Anchorage and climbed to 14,000 feet and got out of it. From all the research I did it looked like July is the best month for flying. Next time I will definitely take a life raft. Not that much over water flying, but with the 35 degree water I think the life jackets would be a mixed blessing. Be glad to answer any specifics if you decide to go. I can't wait to go back. It was the best flying adventure I have done. Another perk is it is daylight about 20 hours a day. We never once had a night flight. If you go Katmai NP is a must. There are more bears than people there!

[Randy Johnson]

Wow. If your planning a trip next year love to fly 7891P on your wing. Thanks for the great breakdown. Very helpful.

[Mark Anderson]

Here are some photos of some Grizzly bears fishing at Brooks Falls in Katmai N.P. I was about 50 yards away. The only way to get to the park is by float plane from King Salmon. King Salmon is about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage in the Bristol Bay region. It took about 1.5 hours in the Comanche.

[N3322G]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Mark Anderson]

Here are some photos flying around Mt. Mckinley. Two are of me landing at Mt. Mckinnley airport. It is a 3000 FT gravel strip. Before we departed I left my passengers on the ground and flew around the pattern to make sure we would not have trouble making it out loaded. There were some very interesting winds and turbulence around this strip. We made it out no problem. We saw these Moose upon landing the first time on the edge of the runway just as we rolled to a stop. One of the camp grounds in Denali , NP is walking distance from the airport, witch is were we camped. We flew here from Talkeetna about an hour south of the park by air. We stayed there a couple of nights also. If the weather had been bad we would have had to take a bus or train from Talkeetna. I don't think they have rental cars there. Talkeetna is great because the airport is right in the middle of town. We were really lucky to have beautiful weather for a couple of days to see the mountain. My father in law lived in Alaska for three years and never was able to see it because of wether and timing. The two Bottom photos is a view of Mckinley from Talkeetna about 100 miles away. I am in the black shirt with my good friend Ben. We went the last 2 weeks in July. Sunset was about 1 AM and sunrise about 430 AM. I don't think I slept much but i never felt tired. If I can get all the dots to line up I will go back next summer!

[N3322G]

You had great weather for McKinley. Fabulous pics.

[Randy Johnson]

really terrific. Thanks