Friday was the big event I'd been waiting for all week. We woke up bright and early (when the sun comes up at 4am that's easy to do) and rode to the Hood lake floatplane base. Hood lake has a ton of floatplanes and is across the street from Anchorage international airport. It is actually somewhat in the middle of the airport. The roads around the lake have signs warning “yield to aircraft” and “aircraft have right of way” and they aren't kidding – there were planes parked everywhere and we found a nice parking space for our motorcycles right under the wing of a float plane that was sitting next the the building we were leaving from.
After getting our fishing license at the office we boarded a Turbo Otter from Rust Flying Services and were taken about 30 minutes across the tundra to a place on Yetna river. I had never been on a float plane before, but basically we lined up on the dock, climbed in (there was room for 10 passengers) and then they loaded whatever freight or baggage was going inside the cabin with us. The only amenity beside the metal framed canvas folding seat was a set of headsets. I would assume the pilot could use them to talk to us but he never said a word after he gave the safety briefing as he was closing the freight. (passengers are "self-loading freight")
We were pushed from the dock and the engine was spooled up, then the pilot went around the lake in small circles to warm up the engine and get clearance to leave. Once he was ready we went down the lake very fast with the floats just barely touching the water, then he slowed down, made a 180, and sped up again. We took off so fast I didn't have a chance to make a video of the takeoff. We were up in the air by the time I hit "record"
The flight was made from 800'. We were going about 130mph so we arrived at the river in half an hour. Even from the 3nd row I could read all of the pilots instruments so it was fun to watch what he was doing when I wasn't glued to the window watching the landscape go by. Since we were so low everything was passing very quickly.
There wasn't much warning we were going to land other than the pilot reducing power, drifting down to about 500', then lowering the flaps and dropping right down to the water level. In all it took about 30 seconds. Very turbulent muddy water was swirling around below us, full of whirlpools and logs. The plane gently sat down on the water and pulled up to a sandbar where small skiffs were waiting to take us to the lodge and get our fishing gear.
We put on some waders, drank some scalding hot chocolate, and headed off to the spot our guide “Dragon” recommended. Our fishing licenses were for one day of fishing which allowed us to catch 3 silver Salmon each. Once we reached the fishing spot in a grassy slough off the Yetna where the water was filtered by the grass along the banks we dropped in a hook with a big clump of fish eggs that were pickled from the previous year's catch. It didn't take long and the first bite I got was hauled in. It was a 10# silver with a nice hooked “beak” The next two fish I brought in were a little smaller and didn't have the hook. They were about 8# or so.
Dad brought in two that were similar to them, and I caught a pike which the guide cut loose after it tried to bite him.
We went to the fishing lodge (about 3 miles up river from where we were fishing) and had a lunch of mashed potatoes, pork, and applesauce with a reduced vinaigrette drizzle. It was all stacked up in one pile, which sounds weird but I want to make it again some day because it was very good.
In the afternoon we went back to the same spot but the fish had lost all interest in eating. I caught one more little silver (6 or 7#) and we used it to finish out dad's quota. When we returned to the lodge our guide cleaned the fish for us and we took the bag of fish with us to the plane so it could go to the processor in Anchorage. I'm hoping to get 15 or so 1# steaks out of it. Marlene said those steaks go for $20 each back home, but it will cost $200 to have them processed and shipped so there go most of the savings, and of course add the $10,000 or so that the whole trip up here cost and those will be expensive Salmon steaks, and I don't even eat fish!!! I'll eat these though!
After another snack at the lodge we went back to the river to catch the float plane, which made a big, low circle over the fish camps in the area to let everyone know he was arriving. An army of little boats converged on the sandbar where the pilot stopped and started unloading the plane. The plane was stuffed to the ceiling with boxes of mail, fresh fruits, stuff from Costco, many cases of alcohol and soda, and even a shower stall from Home Depot. All was taken off one at a time and handed down to the boats. Then the pilot put the seats back in place and we were allowed to board. I made sure I was the first one over to the plane and climbed up to where the co-pilot might sit if there were controls present. The rudder pedals appeared to have been removed and the plane had the type of control column that could be passed back and forth. I love aviation and was really glad to have a front row seat.
We drifted a few feet down river into the strong current and the pilot took off. Here's video of the takeoff. It was amazing how fast the plane can leave the water. The air was bumpy for the first half of the ride, but was smooth as we crossed the Knik arm into Anchorage, and I was able to record our approach and touchdown.
When we arrived back in Girdwood we were full of fish stories, but they were all true! Aunt Donna made another amazing dinner (a pasta dish I need to get the recipe for) and then we started packing for a quick departure in the morning.
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