The Piper Super Cub- Alaska's Pick-Up Truck

Most all of us have seen pick-up trucks with gun racks in them. Well, we do things a bit different here in Alaska sometimes. In the photo, you see the struts of a Super Cub aircraft, our "pick-up" truck. Without question, one of the best bush planes around to get you to extremely remote places. They will haul anything and as much as you can put in them, this flight was full so the gun gets tied to the struts this trip.  That is it's only flaw, they don't have much room!  (They don't have a horn either)

Super Cubs have room for two people and they sit in tandem(one behind the other). There's a little storage behind you but not a lot and your shoulders touch each side of the Cub. BUT, this lightweight aircraft can get you in some pretty tight and EDGY places!  What's the reward? There's nobody else for many miles.

I write a great deal about those "EDGY" places in my upcoming book "Chance is the Providence of Adventurers". You will not believe some of the places we have landed and lived!  After having a rough landing with a client years back he ask me, "Did we just land or were we shot down?"

In the coming months I have footage of many of these "Edgy" landings. Additionally, I plan to put mpegs on my blog to share with you. It will be a front row seat with the camera rolling. It'll be fun and you'll get the "picture"!
 
Note:In the photo, we are flying over the area where the TV Series "Deadliest Catch" is filmed. It was a nice day in Bristol Bay. Ahhh... Winganaprayer

Bush Pilots are not often found in Church BUT pray more than most of You!

WinganaPrayer is an old Bush Pilot term. Not found in any of Webster's Dictionary verions. In this photo I gotta go east(left) pass looks closed-in and there's no turning back and no place to land(I'm on floats). I'm cruising along about 800'. I need that much time to properly panic if something sputters!


 Times like this you dig deep, pucker up a little in various places and hope for the best. THAT'S Winganaprayer at its finest!
Did I mention how much fuel I was burning? Did I mention headwinds?

That ole Winganaprayer has worked for me for years since I left Meade Co. Ky!  Somebody call Webster, the word WinganaPrayer needs to be there!

            Bush Pilots are not often found in Church BUT pray more than most of You!

Alaska's "Sunday Turkey"

The sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is Alaska's largest game bird. Residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have affectionately nicknamed it the “Sunday turkey.” In some ways, cranes are birds of great contrasts. They are one of the most stately and dignified birds in flight, but they can also be one of the most comical when doing their famous “mating dance.” They come together in great flocks during migrations but are wary and scatter widely in their breeding and nesting areas.

Sandhill cranes are wading birds that have long black legs, long necks, and black chisel-shaped bills. Adults stand almost 3 feet tall and have a wing span of 6 feet or more. Mature birds are an ash-gray color with a bright red forehead. Immature birds are quite mottled with coppery or rusty feathers and lack the red forehead of adults. Adult plumage is attained at 2½ years. In the past, the sandhill cranes in Alaska were called “little brown” cranes and were thought to be a separate species based on their color. It is now known that the brownish-rust coloration of these northern birds is iron stain picked up in the peat bogs and muskegs of their breeding grounds.

The dance of the sandhills may be one of the strangest breeding displays on the tundra. Often called a mating dance, display activity reaches a peak in late winter and early spring, but it has also been seen at other times of the year when two cranes meet. The ritual starts with a deep bow followed by great leaps, hops, skips, turns, and more bows. This dance can go on for many minutes. Cranes are extremely wary birds and hard to approach. Their long legs enable them to easily outdistance a person walking on the uneven tundra, but they will take flight if closely approached. Except for the nesting season, cranes are social birds that feed together and occupy safe communal roosts at night.

Omnivorous ground feeders, cranes eat frogs, rodents, insects, bulbs, seeds, and berries as well as occasional seashore delicacies. They have adapted well to agriculture and during the winter and on migration, feed largely on waste grain and small animals associated with farm fields.

Moose, My Constant Companions

Winter of 2011-2012 has been extremely difficult for the critters here in Alaska. Many areas of the State had record snowfall. This depth of snow has reached over 250" for the season for many areas of Alaska. It has been tough on the critters as I said earlier but imagine keeping a path to the outhouse cleared! But, that's another story.

I have included a few photos of Moose that have came down from the mountains to get to less amounts of snow to live and feed. That puts them in constant contact with us and a part of everyday life-it's a good thing!

This unusal amount of heavy snowfall has put the moose in areas that have roadways or trails plowed that makes it easier for them to get around to browse on the tree buds. I guess they get lazy now and again too...

This little guy thinks he is hidden behind that stick!

In the spring Moose are very nervous as hungry Grizzlies are coming out of their winter dens.

Eat Well, Sleep Well- Enjoy the Hunt!

I see a lot of folks head out into Alaska's backcountry with all sorts of gadgets and types of food. Food is one of the most important areas of your trip. A well planned daily menu can make for a more enjoyable expedition. The nice thing about rafting in Alaska's backcountry is the fact that you have more room and space for the nicer things in life-food, cots and chairs.

When you work all day at a hunt in Alaska you are dead-bone tired by the end of the day. Nothing can perk you up like a great meal, a chair by the campfire and a comfortable cot at night. When I say great meal I am not talking about somethinmg out of a bag or can(trash). I am talking about food from scratch!

Breakfast should include buscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, potatoes with garlic and juice/coffee. These type foods stick to your ribs and stay with you the whole day. Lunch can be light such as sandwiches and for dinner, go all out! Take frozen meats, steaks, frozen crab etc. These things will last the first half of your trip before they begin to go bad. Toward the end of your trip you will have found fresh fish and hopefully a little fresh game meat to get you through the rest of the expedition. I sometimes will take ice cream for a treat!

Point is, don't skimp on your food items, they are too important. Anyone who has hunted Alaska with me knows they are in for a real meal treat! Pouring boiling water in a plastic bag for a meal is no way to eat out here! Sure you can take some for backup, that's always a good idea, but they won't do much for hard working bellies!

I always use cots too. If you can't sleep well at night you can't hunt well by day. Lack of a comfortable nights rest makes for a pretty miserable day and I have seen many a traveler here have a horrible time of it because they did not prepare for a good nights sleep. Don't skimp on the bedding!
Lightweight chairs and cots are worth their weight in gold in the bush. Being able to sit down and lean back against something takes away a lot of the aches and pains you acquired all day.

Bears Can Fish!

This Brown Bear was having a field day on a river in the Cordova District here in Alaska. This time of year the rivers swell with thousands of fish which makes for easy pickins!

Alaskan fisherman are accustomed to bears after fish in the same fishing hole. A bit of the nerves are twitching but given their space they generally will go about their business. UNLESS it is a sow with cubs, in that case it is best to reel in and go to another spot. CUBS cause trouble wherever they are as the sow will generally not tolerate any disturbance to them.

Excitement is Building!

As you can see from this native New Yorker's (Pat) expression the adventure is about to begin! He was a bit apprehensive as he had never used a raft before but it did not stop any one of them from trying-a prerequisite for any adventurer!
Bruice, Pat and Tommy have hunted the western states of the Lower 48 but they were in awe of the sheer size and magnitude of Alaska.

They had read my blog and listened to my advise via several phone converstions before they came and it proved to make a big difference in the quality of their trip. After we had loaded the rafts and headed down river a few miles it was time to set up camp, go through all there gear in order to know where everything was and then relax for the first night. Pat is in the background and fellow Alaskan Mike Heinz in the foreground. He is a retired surveyor and taught all the guys how to use there GPS's. A must if you are trying to get to a pick-up point 80 miles downriver by a certain date to get picked by by the planes.

If you do this sort of thing as long as I have it becomes second nature to have comfortable camps and eat right. What was for dinner that first night?
Fresh Tossed Salad/w croutons, sour cream potatoes and FRESH Dungeness Crab! Now, how can you go wrong on a remote Alaskan trip with meals like that! They were GLAD I came along!