Two attempted trips on wheels to ice covered lakes

The weekend of May 14th I attempted a trip to Wien Lake on wheels with my friend Gunner, but we were turned back by weather. The following weekend I attempted a flight to Bettles and Takahula Lake and was once again turned back by low clouds, rain and IFR conditions.
Through rain and low clouds in the upper Yukon Valley I did manage to land in Beaver for a brief moment to stretch my legs. A few days later we received the sad news that Clifford Adams of Beaver, a well known and respected subsistence guide was lost in a boating accident on the Yukon River.
A day after, two other fine men, Buzz Otis and Sam Brice were tragically lost in an accident involving Brice's Arctic Tern N57AT. There had been three Arctic Tern Aircraft in the Interior of Alaska: a second Tern is owned by Vickie Domke and mine is the third. This has been a sad month in the Interior.

Gunner executes a coordinated turn

Virga and rain

On the runway in Beaver

Rain in the upper Yukon

Lone Mountain: an old friend

Doping the wind on a lake

The Yukon River in full flood

Route to Bettles blocked by cloud and rain

Back on wheels

April 29, still on skis and not a bit of snow to be seen! Time to "transition" to wheels.
Curt skillfully made the change and on May 7th there was a gathering of taildraggers on huge tires at Curt's field.
The following photos tell the story, starting with lonely skis on a filed of grass.

Lonely skis

All on wheels!