Yesterday morning I was able to fly the complete 75 mile trail system from Willow AK. to the cabin. The 3 main rivers that make up the Ice Road system between Willow & Skwentna as well as all points beyond are still what I would call rough with some areas having very little snow. There are so many large areas of open water I can't really make an accurate guess at the number. These are in some cases large stretches of deep water that remain unfrozen.
At the cabin there is about 2 1/2 feet of snow but I expect there was more but due to warm weather that melted some and reduced the loft of it there is around 2 - 2 1/2 feet currently. I took snowshoes along and walked from the lake where the plane dropped me off and had a look to see how the building fared through the earthquake. No broken windows and the foundation is solid so my rebuild of the corners was a success.
Based on what I saw along the rivers I've made the right call by delaying any trips that would involve hauling heavy loads via freight sled. A normal trip with the trailer / sled takes around 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours based on trail conditions but what I saw computes to more like 5 as a baseline time. Once there all will be good as there is plenty of snow but a whole bunch of shovel work needing done.
On the up-side, the flying was good, a clear day with upper air around 24* at 1000 feet and ground air at -3. That's called an inversion and does create some weird patches of ice fog in places along the way. For me, a non-pilot it's always a treat to get up where you can really get a look at the lay of the land.
I don't see any extended stays until February...….
At the cabin there is about 2 1/2 feet of snow but I expect there was more but due to warm weather that melted some and reduced the loft of it there is around 2 - 2 1/2 feet currently. I took snowshoes along and walked from the lake where the plane dropped me off and had a look to see how the building fared through the earthquake. No broken windows and the foundation is solid so my rebuild of the corners was a success.
Based on what I saw along the rivers I've made the right call by delaying any trips that would involve hauling heavy loads via freight sled. A normal trip with the trailer / sled takes around 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours based on trail conditions but what I saw computes to more like 5 as a baseline time. Once there all will be good as there is plenty of snow but a whole bunch of shovel work needing done.
On the up-side, the flying was good, a clear day with upper air around 24* at 1000 feet and ground air at -3. That's called an inversion and does create some weird patches of ice fog in places along the way. For me, a non-pilot it's always a treat to get up where you can really get a look at the lay of the land.
I don't see any extended stays until February...….