The woman, Jenny, who had invited me up for Thanksgiving was able to fly in and pick me up with the pilot, Eddie. I was anxious because this was the smallest plane I’d been in yet. It was only a three seater and my seat in the back was more of a beach chair than your average plane seat. This in itself was enough to make me anxious, but I was a bit nervous to be flying with a pilot with whom I’d yet to fly. I was also a little confused as the Eddie turned the plane south instead of heading north towards our final destination. So begins the best plane ride of my life..
Eddie wanted to give me a view of Pilot Point from the air which I’d never been able to see yet. It was so great to be able to see my home from above. But then things got even better as he said that he was going to take us to see Ugashik; this is the village that has about five residents and is about 15-20 miles from PIP. I couldn’t contain my excitement as he flew us right above the water and gave us a great view of the village. He then landed the plane so he could say hi to two of the people who live there, both of whom I’d actually gotten to meet when PIP’s store opened. While we didn’t get out of the plane, I can officially say that I have been to Ugashik. Another great thing was that the view of “my” volcano was incredible from Ugashik. I wished so badly that we could have flown to it, but I am content knowing that I was even closer to it then when I’m home.
While I thought this was the extent of our excursion, Eddie quickly proved me wrong. He continued away from King Salmon as he took us to see different parts of the south that I had no clue even existed. We got to fly past a house where only a man and his wife live. It was a gorgeous home in the middle of the bush and my understanding is that when they decided to retire out here, the man’s wife agreed only so long as she had “everything”. Well I’d say that they have everything, and I just can’t believe they live there alone with no people for miles and miles. As we flew by, the man was out on his deck taking pictures of us (which Eddie later got in an email, it was so cool).
Our journey continued as Eddie flew us around and just told me so many different things that I didn’t know about the region in which I live. I was blown away and couldn’t stop asking questions. At one point he gave me his phone which has a flight app (seriously there’s an app for everything) and he let me tell him which way he needed to be heading. We landed once more (if you even call it that, we touched down and were right back up again) on an airstrip at Fort Jensen (I think that’s what it was called at least..) where there’s now a hunting lodge. Again all of this is just in the middle of tundra where you’d never think people live or even get away for a vacation. Alaska is full of surprises!
As we headed back towards King Salmon I was once again feeling like the luckiest person in the world. And then it got even better! We were flying along the coast when Eddie turned around and said we were going to land again, on the beach.. I couldn’t help but let out an excited shriek. I had no idea this was even possible and both Jenny and Eddie got a kick out of my excitement. While it seems I have this feeling often out here, I felt like a kid on Christmas getting the gift that they’d begged Santa for. Eddie landed us and then turned the plane to face the water; I sat there speechless as I looked around in awe. I’d have loved to have gotten out to walk around, but we were only there long enough for me to take a few pictures before Eddie had us back in the air.
The rest of our trip was filled with my peppering Eddie with questions about where he’s flown and the things he’s seen. As we neared Naknek (which is about a 20 minute drive from King Salmon), Eddie flew us around pointing out all of the processing plants and giving us more history lessons. Once we landed we even help push the plane into the hangar and I could not stop smiling as I thought about our trip. Of course I then had to answer some texts of people who were worried about why it took 2 hours to get from PIP instead of 40 minutes (oops). Everyone was understanding once I explained that I’d gotten to go sight-seeing. I still can’t believe how blessed I am to be experiencing so many amazing things in such a short time! Just another incredible day in this beautiful state:)
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