On the following pages are digital photos taken during the trip. Most of them were taken from inside the plane and the fidelity is effected by the windshield which presents some reflective streaks. Also, the images have been reduced in size and memory to provide for reduced downloading time. In spite of the reduced photo memory size, download may take a while. The original photos have been reduced to 900 pixel width size and further reduced for page display to 450 pixel width.

To view any of the photos at the higher 900 resolution increased size, click on the photo. You will have to use your 'BACK' key to return to the webpage program.

IF ISOLATED PHOTOS DO NOT DOWNLOAD ON FIRST ATTEMPT, TRY YOUR REFRESH BUTTON

On Tuesday, September 7, the weather improved and they took off from Denny Island and headed for Prince Rupert. As they proceeded north the clouds and ground fog increased as they approached Prince Rupert. They therfor altered their course to proceed to Terrace which is about 25_miles inland from Prince Rupert on the highway and railway east up the Skeena river. Actually this turned out to be a fortunate turn of events since at Terrace they learned that there was no 100LL aviation fuel available at Prince Rupert. The distance flown Denny Island (Shearwater) to Terrace via a deviated route was about 130 nautical miles.

From Terrace it was decided to fly direct to Ketchikan. The glaciers, snowfields and abrupt peaks offered spectacular scenery. Upon reaching Ketchikan it was noted that two cruise ships were in the harbor. Distance from Terrace to Ketchikan by the direct route was about 120 nautical miles.

After fueling , they departed on a direct heading for Sitka; crossing Prince of Whales and Kuiu islands. Bill was able identify numerous bays, inlets and passages that he had cruised by boat in previous years. It is really ionteresting to observe all the homes on the small islands as you approach Sitka harbor and airport. Distance from Ketchikan to Sitka was about 159 nautical miles.

After Sitka, they followed the coastline norh and as they approached Cape Spencer and the Brady Glacier, the clouds thickened and they were forced to fly the beach line. Fortunately there were a number of cloud openings that permitted enjoying the glacier and mountrain scenery. At Yakutat, the weather had detiorated and forced obtaining special VFR clearance for landing.

Yakutat was crowded with sport fishermen and commercial fishing operations. The sport fishermen were fishing mostly for Silver Salmon but were also enjoying catches of other species. Fortunately David had made reservations at Glacier Bear Lodge for two nights as accomodations were all booked. . Arctic Coastal Air was very helpful in allowing use of their phone as Verizon was not available in the Yakutat airport area. The Glacier Bear Lodge accomodations were quite good and their restaurant offered a good selection. For tiedown, the Fly Shop offered a free tiedown in front of the old military hangar.

The distance flown from Sitka to Yakutat was about 201 nautical miles ending the day with about 610 nautical miles flown in a little over 6 hours flying time.

A major objective for the Alaska trip was to try and reach their cabin in the Chaix hills at Icy bay. Bill with help of friends had built the cabin in 1963. He used it as a guiding site while he was working in Alaska and patented it under the Homestead Act. Access was by trail from the Chaix Hills airstrip which had been built and utilized for the drilling of an nearby exploratory oil well. The cabin was built of 3 X 12's left over from oil exploratory activities. It was located in large virgin forest trees at a spot on a mountain stream which overlooked the Malaspina Glacier. Bill and Dave had not had the opportunity to visit in recent years.

To inspect the strip , they reduced the plane weight by leaving heavy baggage items at the Glacier Bay Lodge. The weather was marginal with limited visibility. They flew in from the shoreline toward Chaix Hills and spotted a strip which they at first thought was the Chaix Hills strip but had recently been refurbished. After landing they realized that it was not the strip they were looking for but had been constructed much more recently for oil exploration activities. Upon checking coordinates they found it to be about 3 miles from the original Chaix Hills strip and also separated by a river.

The original Chaix Hills airstrip has gradually become less usable with brush and tree growth through the years. They had flown over the strip in 2003 and it appeared suitable for landing with a tundra tire equipped high wing plane. Unfortunately the brush and tree growth have ptetty well taken over and after several passes over the strip they decided against attempting a landing. Plans now are to perhaps charter a helicopter in the future for access to the cabin and perhaps repair the landing strip.

Total flying time for the day was nearly 3 hours.