Three years later: A return to the Ray Mountains

It's April. Our snow is melting but at a measured pace due to the chill at night. On Saturday, the 22 of April I was able to make one last flight on skis, heading North to Round Lake, previously featured in a post from three years ago (http://k-syrahsyrah.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-legendary-flight-to-ray-mountains.html). There was much more snow depth this time, and only a portion of the lake at the South end was blown clear of snow. The cabin still stands, its door propped open in hopes that "critters" would use the door this time instead of making their own door through the wall.

My airplane in its new paint appears beautifully splendid in this backdrop. Also, with this trip was my first chance to use of my ski brakes on glare ice. On careful inspection one might note the extra snow on top of the skis and the tell tale trail of the linear marks on the ice made by the brakes. They functioned well.

The initial photos show the incredible beauty of the Ramparts of the Yukon River with its curvaceous sweep and bright white channel. The curving tangles of the Hess Creek country come next, followed by the Ray Mountains and Mt. Tozi - the highest point in the range at 5519 feet.

Sithylemenkat Lake, beautiful as always, remains shrouded in mystery with its methane gas bubbles and small patches of open water. The frozen patterns in the ice are more lacy this time with fewer large bubbles.

 

First real winter trip on skis

This has not been a kind winter for pilots in the interior. Colder than normal temps, sustained now for 4 months added to extra heavy snow have frustrated our attempts to enjoy the late winter and snow.
Last Sunday was a beautiful day and beckoned! CAVU from the ground but a strong 20-30 MPH wind from the East aloft made the trip to Wien Lake an interesting one. Quick trip out, slow slog back.
Pictures include the patterns in the snow covered dunes, the first view of Wien Lake and the long Herc strip carved in the lake ice for a DC-6 or C46 to land with building supplies. Very long and impressive and short lived!

Fresh annual, out of the snow bank and into the air again!

What "Winter's Icy Grip" really looks like!

Winter is upon us and, thankfully we now have enough snow to insulate the ground and keep our plants from dying from frozen roots and our various pipes from freezing where they run 4 feet under the ground.

All of the pictures shown here were taken at about the same time - high noon solar time which is 1:00 pm Alaska time. Alaska has only one time zone and our state covers such a large area that there is room for 4 potential time zones so there is little concordance between where the sun is on the horizon and time of day. When there is only 4 hours of light in the winter and up to 21 hours of daylight in the middle of summer it hardly matters!

December, January and the first half of February are times when most VFR pilots don't fly: the temperatures are low, the hours of daylight are minimal and the lack of contrast in a snowy landscape makes recognition of landmarks and landing difficult and hazardous.  

This shows the sun hiding behind the Alaska Range which blurring in the mid-distance from blowing snow and fog from open water on the Tanana River.

The next sequence highlights the major preoccupation of pilots during the snow months: 

keeping the airplane wings swept of snow. 

Allowing too much snow to accumulate may put excessive loads on the wings.

The next series shows my lane, trees heavily laden with snow - in bright sun,

and in dark mid-day overcast.

A snow scoop comes in handy moving the 16 inch accumulation of snow from our recent storm.

The author of this blog is demo-ing his technique!  

Finally, as another storm hits our region today, another 4-5 inches have fallen and once again it's time to sweep the wings!

Hints of what is yet to post!