Terrible Summer of 2020 Part 3

Part 3

A Beautiful Fall
Middle of September and time for my traditional flight to observe the beauty of the fall colors.
My usual route of flight would be West to the Yukon and then up the Yukon to the pipeline bridge, thence out to the Yukon Flats then South through the Whites. This day, there were storms to the West starting with Quail Creek Mountains and extending West and North to the Ray Mountains and the Kanuti Flats. So once again adventure beckoned North through the Whites with the wonders of the mosaic of color from the clone clusters of quaking aspens to the birch and, finally on islands in the Yukon, dwarf birch and willow.

Along the way, I was stunned to see that my favorite gravel bars, both on the Yukon and on the Hodzana, which should have been visible now that the water levels were receding, were just gone! The incredibly high water and sustained flow throughout the summer had washed all that gravel to other places, to be discovered next year.

Terrible Summer of 2020 - Part 2

Part 2.

A week later the skies had cleared of smoke and there was a brief window for a trip North. Rain and storms were forming to the East but the path North was clear. Good time to check the Yukon and its tributaries for high water and available bars for landing. The upper Yukon was splendid! Beautiful clouds and reflections everywhere, especially along the Hodzana drainage and the Yukon in the environs of the lower mouth of the Beaver Creek and the village of Beaver.

The water in all the rivers was still very high - too high to make an assessment of the condition of my favorite gravel bars.

The journey began on a hopeful note with a rainbow

A pervasive layer of fog graced Beaver Creek all the way to Victoria Mt. 

Mt. Adams (the native name for Mt. Schwatka) where the eagle nest

Reflections in the ponds of the Yukon Flats

The Twin Lakes showed very nice reflections

Here the lower mouth of Beaver Creek, more turbid than usual from the heavy rains, 

enters into a branch of the braided Yukon River

 Here are scenes along the Hodzana showing very high water but much clearer

This was my first flight with my new Lightspeed Zulu 3 noise canceling headset

Finally, on the North side of the Whites and adjacent to Mt. Adams.

granite tors like dragons teeth