Poor weather in the southern “panhandle” of Alaska encouraged us to consider other destinations after Anchorage. We choose Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon. There, we were lucky enough to meet Frank Turner and his amazing sled dogs.
Frank Turner with one of his beloved Sled dogs……..
Anchorage, Alaska
After 9 days touring Alaska by motor home it was time to move on. Our Alaska experience had been everything we had hoped for. Beautiful, peaceful territory with amazingly hospitable people making us feels like natives. We had visited Denali National Park (north of Anchorage ) then down south to Seward and Homer which are largely maritime cities. Enroute, many comfortable camp sites, flowing rivers and spectacular mountain scenery.
Some of the Beauty of Alaska……..
From a visiting aviator's perspective, Alaska is a paradise but needs to be tackled with great care. There are over 450 registered airports/airfields in the state. If you have the right airplane, you can experience a fantastic flying holiday visiting remote as well as the popular tourist locations. When you leave the major centers you encounter mostly gravel strips so Cessna's with tundra tires are a common airplane for these northern communities.
Flying in Alaska requires great respect for the weather and carefully planned routing and alternatives. Weather changes quickly; often into rapidly lowering ceilings. Flying higher, in IFR conditions, often leads to icing which is very prevalent year round in the coastal areas from Anchorage south and along the shorelines. Most local, light aircraft, pilots that I met fly only VFR. They rely on their intimate knowledge of the territory so they don't get caught in valley passes if weather worsens and they check weather carefully before EVERY flight.
My conclusion about flying in Alaska …. This is a state full of wonderful places to fly, with spectacular country to see and great facilities for light aircraft. It is potentially dangerous for those fair weather pilots, not used to the conditions and terrain. If you do not plan flights with care or take off “hoping” for the weather to improve this can be a punishing place to fly.
Our original plan was to visit several coastal towns in the southern panhandle of Alaska before returning to Canada . On departure day it was clear that the weather around Sitka and Ketchikan , Alaska was not going to be good. Rain was moving into the area and expected to stay for several days. We were not interested in being cold and wet. So, it was off to Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon which was forecasting bright blue skies and warmer temperatures. .
“Nang Fah” performed flawlessly and got us over to Whitehorse in short order. We flew IFR navigating the airways rather than GPS direct. These airways overflew many mountain passes used by the VFR traffic. We envied those who had chosen to fly low that day and surround themselves with spectacular mountain scenery.
“ Nang Fah” at Whitehorse International Airport ……..
Ms. Betty from Canadian customs and immigration met us at Whitehorse International and was very friendly and helpful in clearing us back into the country. She explained that Canadians flying US registered airplanes (or driving US licensed automobiles) were subject to paying GST tax on the value of the airplane immediately upon entry into Canada . I might encounter questions about this as I travel across Canada she warned. However, since I am not a Canadian resident, her interpretation was, the non resident status exempted me from this GST issue. So, for Jens and others who have encountered strange regulations in Australia ; maybe Canada has some technical issues too - but it seems to depend greatly on which officer you encounter upon entry.
The FBO – North 60 Aviation - at the Whitehorse airport have rooms built above their hanger (just like Merrill Field) and we elected to stay with them for 3 nights.
Muktuk Kennels
Next day it was off to explore Whitehorse . One of the unique Northern activities that we really wanted to see was a dog sled operation. Although it is now summer time, and the dogs are not pulling sleds, tours of facilities are offered by many operators. These tours help educate the public about these marvelous animals, dog sledding skills as well as offsetting the tremendous expense in caring for a large kennel of energetic and hungry dogs.
We were very fortunate to find Muktuk Kennels and spent an incredible 11 hours visiting them. (http://www.muktuk.com/). Frank Turner owns and runs Muktuk Adventures…... He is a long time dog sled trainer, operator and race competitor. Originally from Toronto , Frank came to the Yukon 34 years ago and has never left. He has competed in every Yukon Quest dog sled race except one (24 races) and he won the event in 1995.
Muktuk kennel houses 110 dogs and in addition to Frank and Ann there are numerous volunteers, young men and woman from around the world, who come for several weeks at a time, taking care of the dogs and facilities.
Muktuk volunteers Davie (Paris) and Rachel (Zurich) ……..
Frank gives an enthusiastic and stimulating 3 hour presentation covering all aspects of the dogs and sledding. Supported by great video's he takes you right into the middle of the Yukon winter and the Yukon Quest International race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks , Alaska . Total distance is over 1,000 miles taking 10 to 14 days to cover the entire trail in temperatures as low as minus 54 degrees. That is COLD…..
The dogs are a treat to be around. They are mainly Alaska Huskies. Males weigh typically 65 to 70 pounds and females usually a bit smaller. They are playful, calm and friendly and Lec could barely stop hugging and cuddling all 110 of them.
Lec with her new Yukon friends……..
What a day at Muktuk Adventures!!! Enjoying stimulating conversations about travel, dogs, flying, Asia, philosophies of life and of course, with Frank, the old Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team…….only you baby boomer Canadians reading this will understand what that is all about!!!!
Yukon dinner with Frank, Ann and volunteers……..
Thanks to everyone for the special dinner of Caribou and Bison from the barbeque and for your warm hospitality….we will never forget our time at Muktuk.
Please go to the Gallery for more pictures of people, animals and scenery from the North……..
After two memorable weeks in the North it was time to head back to southern British Columbia . This was our longest flight to date; but not nearly the longest on our route.
It was a good opportunity of me to run the airplane at various power settings and to begin “proving” the endurance numbers that Mooney publish for the Ovation 3. We'll need them for the ocean crossings ahead. So far I have not been able to achieve Mooney's published endurance performance. I need to do more flying at various endurance settings to thoroughly understand this airplane's capabilities. It is definitely FAST but will it have the endurance we need????? More work to do on that……
I must comment on our flight planning tools – namely Jeppesen IFR Flight Star. The Jeppesen calculation for the Whitehorse to Kelowna leg was 834 nm and flight time of 4:50 minutes. Actual is above 844 and 4:57 – remarkably close to plan. I have found the Jeppesen tools to be absolutely fantastic. Every flight is planned quickly, with amazing accuracy and you have every piece of planning information needed from Flight Star – of course you have to input the right information too. If you are doing any significant amount of traveling Flight Star is “worth its weight in gold”. Also the Jeppesen team is one of the most responsive, knowledgeable and helpful group of people I have dealt with during my preparations.
Weather leaving Whitehorse was somewhat overcast with light rain. We climbed quickly to our plan of 13,000' and leveled off in the clouds. For the next 3 hours we were in and out of solid cloud but fortunately there was no icing, as forecast, and only light turbulence. Although the scenery was limited we had a nice flight, no problems and arrived to beautiful, sunny and warm weather in southern British Columbia .
We will be visiting my sister here in Kelowna for the next week. Then it will be on to Winnipeg , Manitoba to meet my son, Brad, as he starts his Air Force flight school.
Anchorage to Whitehorse, Yukon to Kelowna B.C.
Some of the Beauty of Alaska……..
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