Flying to Kotzebue

Eric fueling the caravan in Palmer, Alaska

Mountains near Palmer, Alaska

Smile

The Alaska Range
I thought this was cool

Hurricane gulch - along the Parks Highway

Glacier among the mountains

This may be Moose's Tooth mountain

I can't believe I ate those - gross!

Look at me, I'm flying!

Selawik Lake

Kotzebue is on the spit along the Bering Sea

Kotzebue, Alaska

Caribou antlers

Hageland hanger in Kotzebue

Eric's pre-flight check

I got the amazing opportunity to fly with Eric from Palmer to Kotzebue and back. He had to fly a caravan to Kotzebue and pick up another caravan. This was a 1,000 mile round trip, that took us through some unbelievable Alaskan terrain.

The weather was sunny - a rarity here, so we flew through a canyon near Palmer. I took video of that, and will try to upload it on this blog. I felt like I could touch the mountains. So cool. After we passed the mountain range, it becomes arctic tundra. Fairly flat with some rolling hills. We looked for caribou and moose. We did see 4 black bears running together.

Kotzebue is a bush village north of the Arctic Circle on the Bering Sea. I can't imagine how cold it must get here. I had never been north of the Arctic Circle before, so this was very exciting. Even though there is not a line in the tundra, just the thought was enough for me.

We arrived in Kotzebue around 10:00 pm. The sun had not set yet, but it would soon. What a sunset. As we flew back in the darkness, we watched the Northern Lights dance overhead. You've never seen such bright stars. This state is so incredibly large and breathtaking. It was a late return trip, but I was glad I was able to travel with Eric. This is something I will never get to do again.