4th Annual Sourdough Fly-In at Port Alsworth, Alaska

May 31: As advertised, last weekend the whole community turned out for the 4th Annual Sourdough Fly-In, which took place in the hanger and on the runway of Lake and Peninsula Air (Lake & Pen Air). Can you spot the orange cone and the small airborne pizza box in the picture? Domino''s Pizza delivers bush Alaska style! Well, not exactly, though pilots do drop food to hikers on occasion, just for fun. The pilot of the black & white plane is attempting to drop the box as close as possible to the orange cone as part of the airshow events. Planes are disqualified for dropping lower than 100 feet. Pilots also vied for the shortest landing and take-off. We sat along the runway and cheered them on.

The plane bobbling at the end of our dock is an Otter, or to be more precise, a DeHaviland DHC-3. You'll get sick of hearing about planes, but they are a huge part of the culture and a huge part of my job, and they are just plain (!) cool. The second guide actually functions as a sort of co-pilot from time to time.

(Dad, I recommend that you don't read this next part!)

When we take guided trips to the Upper Tazimina or Long Lake, I'll sit in the co-pilot seat. When we take off for home, I hold the plane steady while our pilot John goes through the start-up sequence. Holding the plane steady means just that. I stand in waist-high water (whle wearing my fishing waders). I hold onto the float cleat or one of the plane ropes and verbally clear John for take-off. Then once the prop starts, I climb onto the float, up the struts and into the plane as it taxies into the lake. Enough about planes...

Let's talk about boats...Just kidding. For now.

I guess I've started halfway through the middle. In case you're reading this blog and don't know, I'm on a four-month stint at Samaritan Lodge Alaska in Port Alsworth, Alaska, as one of the summer staff for the program Operation Heal Our Patriots. This coming Sunday evening, ten couples will arrive at the lodge. One or both partners will have been injured in Iraq or Afghanistan - post 9-11. The couples will stay until Friday afternoon for a combination of adventurous outings and marriage resiliency workshops -- adventurous outings will include fly-fishing, bear-watching, hiking some of the local mountains, and of course, the workshops! I think the seminars count as great adventures too, and perhaps will take more courage than facing bears.

That's enough for tonight. For those who pray, please pray for my first week with the veterans
 I miss you all!

Samaritan Lodge Alaska 2013

May 15th: Alaska Airlines dropped me in Anchorage where I picked up an ERA Aviation flight into Kenai/Soldatna and the Samaritan's Lodge Alaska base camp. The Kenai River is the dividing point between the two cities and is famous for its salmon fishing.

The Samaritans Lodge Alaska Base Camp is just a collection of hand-hewn cabins with group accomodations (ie; bunks) and a small dining hall sited next to a small municipal airstrip. Samaritan's Lodge owns several planes and before the summer is over, I'll know them all by sight and sound. Planes and helicopters are the only forms of transportation out to the bush, so I'll be spending a lot of time on them.

The seasonal team trickled in all evening and I'll post pictures and introduce them over the course of the summer. There are a two chaplains (plus their wives), five guides, one housekeeping supervisor, a french chef and various kitchen staff, a maintenance guy, and one administrative person. Add nine or ten volunteers to the mix and you have our summer team.

May 16: We flew on the King Air through dense cloud cover to Port Alsworth on Thursday morning. Everything was a blanket of fog until we came down on the runway and unloaded. The lodge is sandwiched between two runways on the bay and we go to sleep and wake up to the sound of a variety of engines.

If you're into geocaching or GPS technology, Port Alsworth, Alaska is situated on Lake Clark at 60 degrees, 12'30''N/154 degrees, 18'24". It sits on a sheltered bay on the edge of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The town of 160+ residents is an hour from Anchorage by bush plane. Cargo plane pilots make an extra $1,000+ for landing on the gravel strips here...short, sweet, rough and dusty. The DC-10 fuel planes land here and they say the big birds run it to the inch. The landing is a social event around here and events often revolve around the airfields.

In about 10 days, we'll all go to the 4th Annual Sourdough Fly-In, a pre-season potluck and get-together for the community. Bush pilots and their families fly in for the competitive events like the "Pizza Drop" (dropping a weighted pizza box from 100 feet on a marked spot on the runway). I'll save that for my next blog.