More like Blue Sky Fjords
205 inches of rain a year and not one drop today.
A unique Alaskan experience— We took off from Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, and the self-proclaimed Salmon capital of the world---the place where people don't get old, they rust...and rust never sleeps.Up in the air for 30 minutes on the single engine "flying boat" and the small remote mountain lakes we saw below would be next to impossible to reach on foot, a reminder that most of this area is still wilderness and accessible only by small boat or plane. In the heyday, I could imagine how snail mail (US) delivery runs must have been done this way.
Hey Hey, My My
Yet they were spectacular by air, like waves each one more powerful than the next. Pilot Jeff Carlin, picked out one of the lakes, landed the "puddle jumper" and JC turned off the noisy diesel engine that was a reminder that we left the the buzz of everyday life. A kind of Dorothy, "No Longer In Kansas" moment.We stepped out on the pontoon, a big sitka spruce log , leftover from the lumber jack harvesters, lead us to a small granite island. This was to be our platform and ad hoc dock for just now. I breathed in the fresh temperate rain forest air, listening to the silence, and seeing the unspoiled beauty in a 360 panoramic view--- it was awesome. The plane itself was the only man-made object as nature took over. I could imagine being dropped off with fishing gear for a few days and living off this great land on my wits.
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| A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. Anywhere there is blue on the map you can find them. Seaplanes don't need runways.Taking off and landing in water has a romantic fascination because float planes can go places that you can't get to otherwise. |
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| Smooth air and a great ride with Jeff Carlin. |
