This trip had been in the planning stages for a long while. I wanted to go north along the coast, and I didn’t want to be completely dependant on my engine, so I had some major preparation to do. I swapped out my 121.5khz ELT for a 406mhz ELT. I got myself a life jacket that I could wear in the airplane, a 2-man liferaft, a PLB, a Spot tracker, a waterproof VHF and a ditch bag with flares, etc. I also brought a folding mountain bike with me to do some ground exploring and spend a fortune on charts and supplements for the whole trip. Also studied up on customs procedures and Alaska rules, etc.
July 30th: Set off from L.A. and headed north along the Sierra foothills to Chester, CA, just south of Mt. Lassen. Biked around town, but no vacancies at the motels, so went back to the airport and slept in the airplane. Not too comfortable.
July 31st: Had to wait at Chester all morning for the overcast to clear along the Oregon lowlands. Left at around noon and went past Mt. Shasta over the Rogue valley and on to Salem, OR for a gas stop. Then north again ending up in Port Angeles, WA late in the day. Unfolded the bike and cycled down the hill into town.
Aug 1st: Cycled back up the hill then waited at Rite brothers FBO for the fog and overcast to clear. Got off at about 2pm and crossed over to Vancouver Island, then up the east coast of the island to Campbell River, BC. Did Canadian customs there, then cycled into town for the night.
Aug 2nd: Up early and cycled back to the airport. Took off headed for Port Hardy, BC under high overcast and got most of the way to Hardy before the overcast lowered into fog over the water. The high-rez GPS (Garmin Aera) was great for flying low over the water between the islands, but it started to look dodgy, so I turned back about 15 miles south of Hardy. Waited at Campbell River for another 4 hrs, then tried again. Finally got into Hardy under very low overcast. Resolved not to do that again.
Aug 3rd: Got out of Port Hardy at about noon, heading for Ketchikan, AK. Amazing flight over wild country, passing Bella Bella, etc. My oil port cover loosened and popped up, so I stopped in Prince Rupert to apply some duct tape to it. Continued on to Ketchikan, did US customs there, then on to Juneau, AK. Amazing and wild scenery all the way – saw glaciers, icebergs, beavers on floats, etc. Got into Juneau late in the day.
Aug 4th: Off early and up the Lynn Canal towards Skagway. The Lynn Canal is just jaw-dropping – glaciers were huge, mountains were dramatic and the ocean sparkled. Passed over Skagway and headed inland to Carcross, and then Whitehorse in the Yukon. Did Canadian customs again then went for a weather briefing at the Nav Canada office. My next destination – Watson Lake, YT – was IFR due to smoke from a big fire, so I stayed in Whitehorse and spent the day mountain biking.
Aug 5th: Watson Lake still switching between IFR and marginal VFR in smoke, so I needed to find a different route back south. Headed out for Dease Lake and managed to steer clear of the smoke for most of the way. Wild, wild land. Gassed up in Dease Lake, then on to Smithers over more wild, wild land. I wasn’t following the highway, which was a mistake, and got rained on by some big cells, but made it into Smithers just fine.
Aug 6th: Waited for morning fog to clear then out of Smithers to Prince George. Visibility was fine until about 10 miles west of Prince George, when I hit the smoke. There were fires all over BC that week. Crept on into Prince George in low vis. Got gas then took off for Valemount. Smoke got worse and worse and I was creeping along the highway at 800ft agl, with a mile of forward visibility in places. Stopped in McBride for a rest and to clean the bugs off the windshield, then pressed on to Valemount. Met some real nice pilots at the airport in Valemount, plus got a report of more smoke along the trench, so stayed in Valemount.
Aug 7th: Smoke was still bad, and a front was moving through, so conditions were miserable. It wasn’t forecasted to improve for 4-5 days and I had stuff to get home for, so I decided to leave the airplane in Valemount and head home by bus and airlines for a few weeks. Some real nice people let me use their hanger, so put my baby to bed and got on the greyhound bus to Vancouver.
Sept 2nd: Arrived back in Valemount for part two of the trip.
Sept 3rd: Left Valemount at about noon and headed down the southern trench. The scenery was beyond description and I actually liked the 30-kt headwind because it dragged the whole thing out a bit. Those mountains are absolutely awe inspiring. I did an unplanned stop in Cranbrook, BC for gas, then another hour or so south to Kalispell, Montana. Did U.S. customs at Glacier airport, then hopped over to city airport for the night. Excellent FBO there (Red Eagle).
Sept 4th: Thunderstorms just south of Kalispell, then very windy, so no flying. Mountain biked around Kalispell and ate the best steak of my life.
Sept 5th: Nasty cold front passing through, so no flying. Rented a car and drove through Glacier Park to Browning, MT, then back to Kalispell along hwy 2. Montana sure is a special place!
Sept 6th: Left early and headed south down the Flathead valley, over Missoula and up the Bitterroot valley, then over to the upper Salmon drainage to Challis, ID. Got gas and continued on out to the Snake River plain and over to Twin Falls and on to Wells, NV. Afternoon turbulence was bad so stopped at Wells for gas and food. Left Wells in the late afternoon and headed down towards Ely, then west to Tonopah (avoiding restricted areas). I did the last half hour into Tonopah in the dark, and there sure aren’t many lights in that part of the country. Never saw an airport beacon look so good!
Sept 7th: Left Tonopah early and headed west to Bishop, CA and then south. Got south of Lone Pine and hit really bad turbulence, so headed back to Lone Pine to wait it out. Wind got worse and worse so I stayed in Lone Pine overnight. It sucked to be stuck in a motel so close to home.
Sept 8th: Headed out very early and got as far as Fox field in Lancaster, CA. The LA basin was socked in with low overcast, so I just left the airplane there and called my wife to come and get me.
Sept 11th: Took the train out to Fox Field and brought the airplane back to Whiteman. A 30-minute flight. Closure! Finally!
Summary: An amazing trip, but I obviously dramatically underestimated the reserve time needed for weather delays. The coast route was great, but I think I’ll probably do future trips to AK up the trench or east of the Rockies because of greater weather certainty (I was really lucky with weather on the coast). On flying over the cold water - having the raft, lifejacket and PLB made all the difference. I didn’t worry about being exposed and I didn’t spend those legs hearing any weird engine noises. The expense of the safety gear really paid off in peace of mind. The high-rez GPS was really useful in coastal BC, in the trench and landing in Tonopah at night.
I highly recommend this trip to any pilot, and I’m already planning my next trip north! It’s a different world up there!
