Trip To Metlakatla: 6/2/11

MET to KTN: Zoom in to see VASI at KTN airport on left

It has been a good feeling to be back in Ketchikan. I have thought about it often while I have been away. It hasn’t changed much. That is, except, for the weather. It has been much better than I remember. They say it will be 71 today and we have had many days in the mid to upper 60s, which is great compared with the last time I was here. I have been told that the year I had worked here, the weather was unusually bad and it appears this year will be better. But we still do get the weather I remember from 2007.

Metlakatla to Ketchikan

A case in point is June 2, 2011. I start my day with a round trip from Ketchikan to Metlakatla (15 minutes away). The ceiling is a ragged 500 to 800 feet with Vis of 3 to 5 miles and a light rain. It is beautiful with the low clouds and mist, with the mountains as a background, the ocean beneath me and waves breaking on the rocks. As we are landing, my passengers spot a humpback whale spouting just 100 yards away. I land on the smooth water and taxi to the dock. One of my passengers is a psychologist who uses the airplane for her daily commute to work. After tying up and unloading my passengers, our dock man, Roy, helps me unload the inbound freight and reload the out going freight. I also have two passengers to take back to the airport dock. 

Capstone Navigation System

After the short taxi from the airport dock to Taquan, I stow the cargo net and put all of the seats back in. I am ready to start flying Misty Fjord tours. When the weather is good enough, about 800 feet, we fly the short way to the Fjords over land to the Behm Canal and on to Rudyard Bay. Today we can’t go the short way.  

Metlakatla to KTN

 The flight to the Misty Fjords takes about 30 minutes with about another 10 minutes flying around the mountains and waterfalls. On low weather days like this I head east from our base right past downtown Ketchikan, at just a few hundred feet, as I climb to my cruising altitude. I continue flying past Mountain Point. I can see 3 ½ miles through the rain and mist to Bold Island. As I get to Bold Island I can see Cone Island, about 4 miles away. The visibility is not too bad. The ceiling is a ragged, 500 to 600 feet. From Cone Island I continue to follow the coast to Point Alva. We just call it Alva. At Alva I keep following the coast as it slowly makes a 90 degree turn to the Northeast. From Alva I continue to Narrow Pass between Rudyard Island and Revillagigedo (Revilla). It is about 30 miles from Alva to Rudyard Bay where the tour starts. As I pass Rudyard Island I can start to make out Smeaton Island and continue to the north end of Smeaton and go through Short Pass. From Short Pass I can see across the Behm Canal to Winstanley Island. From the tip of Winstanley Island it is five miles to Rudyard Bay. 

Metlakatla to KTN

With the low ceiling I will not be able to do the normal tour. When I get to the mouth of Rudyard Bay I look into the bay and check the weather. I will be able to fly to the “wall” which is a 3,000 foot high, shear faced granite mountain. It, along with New Eddystone Rock, is the most recognized part of the monument. I will be able to fly into Punchbowl Cove, just in front of the wall, make a tight turn around back to Rudyard Bay and continue to the Amphitheater, a rock formation made by glaciers that creates a beautiful natural amphitheater. From the Amphitheater I continue past Bailey Falls to the “Y,” where I turn around and land in front of Bailey Falls. At Bailey Falls I shut down and let the people out on the floats. It is amazing. Everyone is standing on the floats looking at the falls and soaking up the experience. Two things are inevitable. One, someone will ask, “Has anyone has ever fallen in?” and two, “How deep is it here?” The answers are, “No, that is a whole different tour,” and, “It’s over your head…………about 500 feet.”

Metlakatla to KTN

After about ten minutes, and a lot of picture taking, I get everyone loaded back into the airplane and head back to Ketchikan. I’ll make that trip four more times today.

Metlakatla to KTN

  (P.S. All the pictures posted here are of Dan's flight from Metlakatla to Ketchikan. Unfortunately, with a load of passengers on the Misty tour, Dan was unable to take pictures of the Misty Fjords. However, you can refer back to my pictures of the Misty's on previous posts. Or, you can go to Google Earth, type in Ketchikan Alaska, to check out the route he mentions above.)