Day 9

Today Jack left his Palmer B&B to do some sight seeing  to the east towards Prince William Sound. It is the area around Valdez where the big tanker full of oil, crashed. He said it is beautiful pristine country and the oil spill would have been disastrous. 

These pictures are of Knik River, glacier and the changing vegetation in the valleys. He said some spectacular country!

This Knik River area has several glaciers. Again Sean has been a wealth of info. Here are some info links related to this area.

1952 Mount Gannett C-124 Crash

Colony Glacier C-124 Debris Recovery Video 

Knik River & Glacier, Colony Glacier, Lower/Inner/Upper Lake George
(Some GPS track missing - reconstructed with the SPOT locations)
Click image to view full  resolution

This is the plane he wished he was flying. 

Or this one. 

Palmer sightseeing loop -> Talkeetna -> Anchorage

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After his scenic flight from Palmer he headed for Anchorage. 

There are several airports all within a short distance so as he approached he asked flight services to assist him to come in. They have been very helpful!  There was just a bit of traffic,  the state fair, where you come in your plane not necessarily your car, the international airport, the US airforce base and a small flying club airstrip.  Allot of bees buzzing around. 

Jack said he felt like he was arriving in his tricycle as all the planes around him had large tundra tires about 31 " to his 12". He said it was quite the sight. He may stay a day or so on his way back as he says it is a very interesting place.

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He managed to find a B&B but due to the  State Fair everything in town was full so he had about a 20 min drive to get there but no car!

He met someone (at the fuel pumps of course) named Jackie.   Asked if there was public transit, this caused a few chuckles as it is not called public transit but people movers and not it was a holiday. Well Jack was in luck, not only was Jackie one of the bus drivers but she and her husband also ran Jack's Fishing adventures!  Lots of stories to share as her son was a State Trooper on one of the Aleutian Islands and was getting his pilots license. They gave him a lift to the B&B. 

Jack has been so impressed with how friendly and helpful the folks he has met have been. 

But that's the north isn't it!

Happy Jack!

And this is his room with a view for tonight. 

He said it is quite lovely! No Hotel Cessna for him tonight.

Good night Captain Jack, sweet dreams of planes with bigger tires or floats!