Illiamna Volcano.

Looking South over the TikChiks.

Mae’s pet bull MooMoo hanging out in Tuluksak Alaska.

Sometimes I even land to take a break, Tuluksak is nice.

Goodnews Bay, Alaska.

Sunrise near Togiak.

Sunrise near Togiak.

Early Alpenglow near Togiak.

I love early morning flights in Alaska in Late October (still using a headlamp at nearly 10AM).

The Tikchiks.

Sunset on Cook Inlet.

Sunset on Cook Inlet.

Sunset on Cook Inlet.

Sunset on Cook Inlet.

Dusty wind at Big River Lakes.

Northeast end of Lake Clark, at the sand bar.

Near Keyes Point.

The Nushagak river beginning to freeze.

Clouds over the Alagnak River.

Confused islands on Lake Illiamna.

Clouds and light freezing rain near Pedro Bay.

Crossing the Alaska Range.

These photos were taken during the past 10 days.  It has been very busy, and I have not had adequate time to highlight all the different hunting parties coming through the door.  We have hauled many more people than those pictured below, these are just the ones I managed to get photos of.  We are so thankful for all of our awesome clients and friends who fly with us each year in order to experience Alaska’s vast wilderness.  With your help it has been a successful year! 

Picking up a caribou in the Talkeetna Mountains (590 permit)

Currently out chasing caribou and sheep in the Talkeetnas.

Father/Son moose hunting team still in the field.

Mike Mitten with a nice 60″ bull.  Taken on a solo hunt, with a recurve bow, from the Chugach mountains.

Hauling out a 60″ bull from the Talkeetna mountains.

First caribou taken with the help of friends from the Talkeetna Mountains (590 permit).

A very nice caribou taken by a Father/Son team from the Talkeetna mountains.

This Father/Son team took 2 caribou on a party hunt with 590 permits, and they are from NYC and Pittsburg!.  Awesome job!!

My dad and a long time friend.  Look out Moose!

Happy moose hunter soaring above the Talkeetna mountains.

Father/Son moose hunting team in the Chugach.

Sheep hunters in the Chugach.

Picking up caribou hunters from the Talkeetna mountains (590 permit).

Picking up a solo sheep/caribou hunter in the Talkeetna mountains.  Success with the caribou, none with the sheep.

To book your hunt, call Mike Meekin at (907) 355-6159.  Or email him at meekin@mtaonline.net

It get’s really busy this time of year, and it’s hard to squeeze in adequate family time.  But, Ali and I managed to sneak away for a couple of hours and do some exploring.  We landed out on the glacier and I showed her the ice my air taxi is named after.  We even threw some huge rocks down into a moulin and jumped across some crevasses.  She thought she was pretty cool.  We also landed out on the river and picked up a moose antler and Ali tracked a bear.  I don’t want time to stand still, because I think that would be weird, but I would not mind if the Alaskan Autumn lasted about 2 weeks longer.  The North wind is picking up this morning and I am afraid the leaves are going to blow away today. 

Well, I’ve got to go drop off some moose hunters now that my coffee is gone.  And, I hope all you Alaskans are ready for the first Fall storm.  Kings Salmon is already blowing 35 knots, and Palmer is supposed to be at 32 knots by noon … here we go again.

These critters were hauled in from the Talkeetna Mountains yesterday.  These are GMU 13 caribou, and the hunters that took these are still out chasing sheep around in the hills.  It’s been a good year.  We are in the fog and rain now, and the snow continues to creep down the hills…but I’m sure it will be hot and sunny next week :o)

Few things make us happier than seeing family members hunting together.  This is a father/daughter team that just returned from a successful hunt in the Talkeetna Mountains.  They spent 3 or 4 days sneaking around in the woods trying to take a bull caribou, when all of a sudden this bull walked through camp while dad was brushing his teeth.  She was able to pretty much shoot from the tent, and only pack it a few hundred feet to the airstrip.  She is 16 years old and took it with one shot from a .30-06 ultra light.  It was awesome to see their excitement, and enjoy this accomplishment with them.  She even taught us that it is not called a “double shovel” but that it has “two scoops”.  Our clients are probably the funnest part of our job.

I left Saturday morning for Cold Bay and Unimak Island and returned Sunday night.  In other words, I put on about 2200 miles and enjoyed some awesome scenery over the weekend.  I saw some beautiful weather and some not so beautiful weather.  Coastal flying conditions become more and more fickle as the seasons begin to change.  I am happy to be back in my warm bed tonight.  Here are a couple of pictures from the past two days.

A boat crossing Lake Clark.

Salmon in a stream.

Near the mouth of the Egegik River.

Beach Combing.

Crossing for Port Heiden.

Port Moller.

Crossing at Port Moller near Nelson Lagoon.

Trying to get off Unimak Island.

10 miles from home.

On the ground with the birds tied down.  Thankful.

My bike and I snuck out for a couple hours last night.  We had a really good time.  The opportunities are endless with 4.7″ of tread under your feet.  I hope to do more of this before the season is over.  I feel some good down-hill riding coming on.

Here is a fat bike post from earlier in the summer.  Thanks again Speedway Cycles for offering a fat bike I could afford.

Well, we found a real fixer-upper today.  This wreck has been here since the 1980’s.  It’s a real piece of garbage, but one of those cool Alaskan airstrip ornaments.  I’ve flown over it dozens, if not hundreds, of times but I’ve never landed.   The brush has pretty well gotten her covered up.  We had a few extra hours to kill today so Mike and I found a spot to land and check it out.  We had to take our pants and shoes off to cross the river in order to get to it.  It was a good day.  Good memories already.

We hauled a 41.5″ ram out of the Talkeetna mountains this month.  The best part is that we did not even know it was in there.  All we knew was that there were rams in the valley, and we believed they were legal.  These guys stayed and hunted for 7 days and took this beautiful animal as a reward.  

On the other hand, I just picked my brother up from his sheep hunt.  I dropped him in an area where I have seen some nice rams in the past.  We did no buzzing of sheep on the way in, even though we saw sheep.  My brother walked his legs off, and never saw a legal animal, there is nothing wrong with that.  He was in sheepy country, he hunted hard, he glassed numerous rams, and he never squeezed the trigger, but he had an epic experience.  It’s called hunting, not killing, for a reason.  We believe in the hunting, and taking of game, NOT spotting, buzzing, landing, and killing.  I struggle to call the latter a “hunting trip”.

It is always nice to show clients animals from the air.  It makes them feel good, and it makes me feel good.  But, #1) it’s not always possible to find the game on a quick pass and #2) It’s usually not the right thing to do, to go buzzing animals in the middle of hunting season.  Airplanes buzzing sheep have spoiled two of our clients opportunities this year already.  It is infuriating to the hunter on the ground when a pilot/wannabe-hunter buzzes a sheep three, four, five times.  These are just a couple of issues that we deal with every day in this line of work.  It’s all really fun stuff, but things go sour when people forget that hunting is supposed to be a memorable and enjoyable experience as a whole, not just a kill.

41.5″ Talkeetna Ram.

Bull caribou on the ridge.

Happy hunter headed to the plane with his Chugach ram.

Cloudy, beautiful, days.

My cessna 185 departing one of my favorite places.

Another beautiful Chugach ram taken after a full 10 day hunt.

Picking up my brother after an awesome hunt.

Lots of clouds today.  The fog was in and out all morning, but we finally got to work around mid-day and got 12 people moved, plus a load of freight, before eating a late dinner.  It was 2 goat hunters, 3 caribou hunters, 2 pack rafters, 2 sheep hunters, and 3 gold miners.   The clouds hung in the mountains all day so we had to work for it.  Thankful for the sunshine, fresh snow, and beautiful fall colors.

We were working at the base of Pavlof Volcano on June 2nd when it erupted.   We arrived in Cold Bay on May 31st.  Pavlof blew on June 2nd under beautiful blue skies.  Over the next two weeks we never saw the mountain again because of clouds.  Viewing an eruption like this was probably the opportunity of a lifetime.  We were literally right there watching lava shoot out the top, then watching a flash flood rage down the mountain as hot lava melted spring snow.  Pavlof is more than 8200′ tall and considered to be one of the most consistently active volcanos in the Aleutian Arc.

I should have gotten these photos posted sooner, but summertime is just too busy to stop and play on the blog.  I would be out flying right now, but the wind is blowing in the Chugach Mountains.  I just sat down at my computer and saw these pictures and decided it was time to do something with them.

Pavlov Volcano Eruption June 2nd, 2014

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It’s bittersweet when a legal ram watches you land.  It’s awesome that there are legal rams in the valley, not so awesome that they know you are there.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching these guys through the spotting scope with the hunter.

I found a new spot to land.  Should be some good caribou hunting.

Enjoying the view as always.  Interesting fact … this lake did not exist just 10 years ago.  I’ve watched it grow high in the Talkeetna Mountains this lake has appeared at the toe of an unnamed glacier.

Looking down onto the Matanuska Glacier.

A nice 39″ ram we pulled out today.  His hunting partner also took a 38+ on opening morning.

A hunter testing the sat-phone before I depart.  Iridium sat-phone service  generally works really well, but this particular valley is so narrow and deep that satellites are not always within view.   Hunters have struggled to make calls with consistency from this location.

Another hunter dropped high in the Talkeetna Mountains.

Not a bad little view.  This is in the Alaska Range, in the Kichatna Mountains.  I took this picture last month while fly towards Farewell. Every time I fly by this peak I take a picture, and it is seldom disappointing.  My 4 year old daughter could take a picture of this mountain, and it would look great.  I don’t think you can go wrong with a camera when the landscape is this extreme.  Here is a picture from the same mountain at a lower altitude.  It’s actually one of my all-time favorites, and I have it blown up and hanging on the wall in my hangar.

I took this picture several years ago while looking for sheep.  One of the greatest things about this job is that while the landscape stays the same, the perspective is always changing.

Well … if you’ve looked at the calendar today, you know it is August 7th.  That means 3 days until hunting season starts!  I took this photo this morning, and I am excited about the season ahead!

It’s amazing how the summer fly’s by.  It’s August 1st today, which means hunting season is just around the corner.  This time next week we will be hauling sheep hunters into the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains.  This time next month and the leaves on the trees will be yellow and falling.  I love this time of year because it’s still summer, but you can feel the change in the air.

The last couple of days have been beautiful.  Yesterday my brother and I flew around in the Chugach all afternoon landing in various places and thoroughly enjoying each minute.  We have been busy flying for the gold mine, and doing NOLS re-rations. This afternoon we flew 15 people off of an strip using the super cubs.  Then we grilled up some salmon and reindeer sausage for dinner.  I do love Alaskan summers and all the cool people we get to meet.

NOLS AKX6 near the Tonsina Glacier.

Taxing for departure.

Zach landing at one of our favorite Chugach strips.

On the glacier.

AK-23 in the hangar this evening.

Alaskan Summer.

It has been a busy start to the summer, but we finally snuck away yesterday for a few hours of family time.  It was a beautiful summer day and I think the adults had almost as much fun as the kids.  We were missing a whole bunch of family members, but you can only cram so many people into Super Cub :o)  I hope you had a relaxing weekend.

We were hard at work yesterday when Pavlov Volcano blew up just a few miles away.  Volcanic ash made it to more than 20,000 foot.  I can still see ash spewing into the sky looking out my window right now.  Fortunately the winds have worked in our favor so far, so the ash has not been an issue for the machinery.  

Also, my brother and his family are home from the Philippines for a few months and he was able to make it down to Cold Bay last night and fly around Unimak Island with me today.  The map shows where we were located.  Looks like a few days of wind and rain are in the forecast but we can’t complain, it’s been beautiful.

I recently returned from another 10 days in South West Alaska.  We spilt our time evenly between Dillingham and Cold Bay.  We were blessed to have an awesome stretch of weather as we were able to work every day.  The first 3 days of the job were virtually blue bird, so when a little bit of cloud cover and freezing rain showed up we really could not whine about it.  The winds were generally light never exceeding 30 knots on the surface.  We saw steaming volcanos, bears, wolves, foxes, caribou, moose, a killer whale, old ship wrecks, glass bouy balls, eagles, a wrecked DC-6, and we even stopped at the hot springs for a little swim.  It was truly an awesome trip.  If this works there will be about 70 pictures from the trip posted below.

Crossing the Alaska Range for the west side.

Crossing the lake district North of Dillingham.

Refuling near Sparrevohn.

Refuling at Nyac with only thin snow cover.

Sneaking back into Dillingham on drizzly night.

More fuel at Nyac.

On the ramp in Dillingham, hoping it does not start to freeze and thankful for a hangar.

Changing oil in the hangar in Dillingham.

Ali’s stuffed horse Milo took this trip with me.

Complete lack of snow leaving King Salmon, Alaska.

Milo and I waiting for the helicopter in Port Heiden

Crossing from mainland to Unimak Island.

Shishaldin Volcano on Unimak Island.

Neighboring Isanotski Volcano.

Isanotski Summit.

Shishaldin Summit

False Pass, Alaska.

False pass.

South Side of the Alaska Penninsula.

Looking through False pass with Mainland on the right and Unimak Island on the left.

South side of Unimak on a beautiful morning.

Fueling in the sleet.

Final for landing at False Pass.

Cold Bay Saturday Night.

Cold Bay Sunday Morning.

A DC-6 landed gear up at Cold Bay several years ago.

Mike and I posing by the carnage.

This is now sitting off to the side of the runway.

Looks sorta cold.

You can see the helicopter and the biologist … I circled the caribou.

How many caribou do you see?

This might help.

Beautiful morning in Cold Bay.

There were too many photos to upload all at once … so there is a second part with lots more photos if you are interested.  Just click here http://www.blueiceaviation.com/blog/photo-dump-early-april-in-south-west-alaska-part-2

You can also purchase high quality Blue Ice Aviation shirts and/or hats by going here http://blueiceaviation.com//shop.php 

Most of the track from our trip.

The Cub and Helicopter arriving together at the mouth of the David River.

Holding onto our hats on the Bering Sea side.

Stretching our legs.

Nelson Lagoon, pretty amazing location for a community!

Cold Bay.

One of the many amazing views from Cold Bay.

Sometimes the wind blows in Cold Bay.

Milo helping the biologists draw blood from a caribou.

Another Cold Bay view, Frosty Peak.

Getting ready to head home.

Pre-heat. The next best thing to a heated hangar is an electric heater and a honda generator.

Crossing at Port Moller.

Landing on the beach.

Probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in my life.

These hot springs are absolutely amazing.

Mark Cruising the beach in the cub.

Mike headed home.

Gramps and Milo in Port Heiden.

Frozen lakes and no snow.

Taking on fuel in Port Alsworth.

Landing at our house in a snow storm after a long beautiful flight from Cold Bay … amazing!

Ali and Milo, chillin’ in the hangar.