Alaska via Inside Passage
 

Just got back from a 4 day trip to Alaska via the coastal route. Words or pictures cannot describe the raw beauty of the area. My Alaska trip was a dream come true for me, and knocked off #49 of the states. Hawaii is next.:D

The weather is always an issue going into Canada and Alaska as XM weather does not work there reliably. So you have to rely on good ol pilotage and experience.

The trip up was under 1,000 - 2500' ceilings, but over the water it is easy traveling for me. They don't put towers in the water, and there are good places to divert to in Canada if weather or fuel is an issue, or just reverse course.

The trip back was under sever clear. Simply amazing.

I wanted to make it non stop from Washington to Alaska so mission accomplished twice! An easy task for the RV-10.

The coast and inside passage are simply beautiful. Water falls, mountains, ocean, surf, tidal flows, fishing boats, whales. Past Ketchikan the scenery really gets pretty around Juneau and north. I flew over glaciers, and snow packed mountains melting in June's warm days.

On the way back after stopping at Bozeman for the night I decided to check out Yellow Stone also!

Approx 4,500 miles in 4 days. 32.5 hours on the Hobbs.

What was really cool is coming back today I was monitoring 122.75 and heard two guys talking about being at FL11.5. I asked them what they were flying and sure enough they were RV-7s! Both are avid VAF members! and they were returning from AK also! Too funny.

What a great trip. Nothing compared to Rosie's excellent adventures, but I'm trying to keep up! :D


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Here is a link to the route I took via inside passage if you are interested. Launch point from Washington was Port Angles, KCLM for cheap fuel. Not a fancy place, but good folks for sure. Very helpful with travel tips and coast flying advice.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...4DeQ5EWlyUxWK3



Link to Pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/1022479...InsidePassage#

Wow. That's amazing....what an experience. Congrats!

Very cool, Larry. I'm envious! Thanks for sharing.

Great trip report & beautiful pictures.
Very Inspiring.

Amazing! Where did you spot the whales?

The whales were in a inlet bay just north of Juneau. I was just cruising along about 120mph to enjoy the scenery and saw the water spouts. I circled for an hour just watching them. There were about a dozen or so.

Start planning Vlad! :D

I just got back from a cruise from Vancouver to Seward AK along the inside passage, and I missed not having my 6A on the trip. We rode in a DH Beaver to Misty Fjords out of Ketchikan and thought that wheels were not the best landing alternative for that part of the country. Great to hear the trip was a success.

Stan

Beautiful!

Stunning photos, thanks

Good to know on whales location. Believe it or not Larry I've planned AK trips two times within last two years, even prearranged some places to stay. It didn't happen yet. Year 2014 is very very promising. Airplane is in top shape. I have all tips and suggestions bookmarked be it your gallery or survival ideas and tools from AK military guys. A NOAA aviator gave me how-tos on some places where you can not see the sky because of birds. That fuel bill for 65 hours of AK only flying time is the trip killer...