Whitehorse

Flying in the Yukon and British Columbia is going to be mostly in the mountains. This to me is a very exciting way to fly. But with the mountains it is necessary to fly at high altitudes unless you are adventurous enough to fly the valleys at a much lower altitude. One nice thing is that most of the sites are either on one of the highways or close enough to one that you can FBR, fly by road, or fly by river. You can purchase the sectionals (expensive), or buy a road atlas. If you belong to AAA get road maps for the provinces, which will show where the airstrip is in relation to the road or river.

Our venture into the Yukon has really paid off. It has put us in touch with a well thought of bush operation in Watson Lake that is available. The owner is very ill and has to get out of the business but has been very selective in his choosing a new owner. We have a great track record which impress’s him immensely.. We have the same aircraft and a very good safety record. He even checked out complaints to the government and we have come out smelling like a rose. So with all papers signed sealed and delivered we are in operation in British Columbia and a darn good crew. Our operations base is in Whitehorse and the facilities there are outstanding. We especially like the new Twin Otter’s and Caribou. We will need a crew to fly the Air North flight to Vancouver and pick-up another Twin Otter.

Whitehorse - (Fall Flight) We are hardly set up when we have a charter with the government to fly a group of inspectors checking out the Alaskan Highway condition before the winter arrives. The flight will be made utilizing a Otter (with real weather). The route to be flown is as laid out by the engineers.

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We will be Following the Alaskan Highway, built by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (of which I was a proud member for 27 years) during WWII. After the ferry flight from Whitehorse to Dawson City our flight will begin at Mile Post 0 of the Alaskan Highway, which is actually in the center of Dawson City. Just an aside, the US Army Engineers where quartered in Dawson Creek and I had the honor of having 16 of those soldiers join my platoon in England before the invasion after they finished the road, and 6 of them stayed with me to the end of WWII. I have a picture of two of them, who I will never forget, hanging on my bedroom wall. We called the road the Alcan Highway in those days.

Loading our engineer passengers we head to Fort St John. It is only 35.5 miles to Fort St John but while the inspectors take care of their work we will top off our tanks before heading on to Ft Nelson and the beginning of the mountains. After refueling we now head to Fort Nelson where the terrain will start to change dramatically, keep your eye on the road as that is what we are following all the way, no short cuts as the engineers are surveying the condition of the road and the terrain alongside. Next airstrip that we will see is Toad River and the fun starts here, as you approach Toad River there is a hill in front of you blocking out seeing the runway, so you line up on the road and slip over to the runway when you see it on your right. You now taxi back and have one of the passengers get out and act as road guard as you taxi across the highway to the gas station. They have a fine diner with good food. After a nice meal and refueling the aircraft we are off to Watson Lake. The heading to Watson Lake is 278E, but we will be following the road. Following the road at 4500’ will work in the mountains. Flying the canyons and valleys, remember the rule to stay on the right. Suggest you make turns gently so you don’t end up in a wall or the wrong valley. Leaving Watson Lake we head next to Teslin. Hope you are keeping your eye on the road. From Teslin Lake, we now head to where we are based, the larger city of Whitehorse, keep your eyes on the road don’t get lost in town. The engineers suggest we stop here and layover continuing in the morning. Ok so lets find the airport and set an approach. We will get a chance sleep in our own beds in our own quarters.

With an early wake-up and hearty breakfast we are off to Haines Junction, Lot of snow on the mountains. Ahead next will be Burwash Landing, wondering where you are? About 100 miles to the west is Yakutut, Alaska. This is a pretty approach across the Lake. From Burwash we head to the last village along the highway in Canada, Beaver Creek. It will be necessary that we land at Beaver Creek and clear Customs. After landing we just taxi to where the Canadian flag is and the agents will check our papers and the aircrafts papers. Ok back in the air as we finish up the last bit of the highway to Northway. Now we clear US Customs and stay at the Bush Pilots facilities. The passengers will fly back to Watson Lake with you in the morning. You can fly back with the route of your choice. I have flown this several times and have flown in snow, rain, fog and sunshine. One time I had to turn back as the weather turned sour and I couldn’t go any further.

Haines Junction - You are new to the company and your first flight will be taking you through some of the mountains in the area. The weather is very good, just a few scattered clouds and a little winter fog, but no problem. The load today is fresh produce, groceries and hardware for the General store. In addition there is quite a bit of mail since the Postal Service couldn’t get thru the snow and asked us to carry it on our flight. The flight will generally follow the Alaskan Highway. Experience on this flight says to follow the road on the left side of Pine Lake and it will set you up for 22.

Carmacks - The route to Carmacks follows fairly closely the Yukon Highway, which connects with Highway 4, the Robert Campbell Highway to Faro at Carmacks. Supposedly, Carmacks is named after George Carmack. The sign painter accidentally added the “S” and it has stood the time. Carmacks is in the center of the coal mining area. The weather is very good for this time of year, clear sailing all the way. The load is supplies for the Coal Mining Company.

Dawson City - A town of about 2000, Dawson City was once the “Paris of the North” when in 1896 Gold was discovered and Dawson City was in the center of it all with luxurious hotels and restaurants plus luxurious steamers that plied the Yukon. Dawson City ay its height was the largest city west of Winnipeg. With the gold petering out and new roads completed the center shifted to Whitehorse.

The load today is a cargo shipment for the King Solomon Mine. Weather is, for this time of year, super. So lean back and get this baby on its way.

Braeburn - A short flight up the Klondike Highway. We have a load of Bakery supplies for Braeburn Lodge. Better get one of their tasty, monster cinnamon buns while you are there. The first weekend in February they are the host of the annual Cinnamon Bun Dog Sled Race, a 200-mile event.

Carcross - Short for Caribou crossing, present population 400 is also the home of one of the world’s smallest desserts. There is a load of building supplies, seems they have some work they want to get done before next season starts. This is a short flight with a lot of interesting terrain features. There are two valleys to follow, your choice as to which one you take. The mountains on either side are from 5700' to 6900'. The thing to remember is the flight is short, you need altitude but you also have to descend to a 2000' strip 2/20 at 2200' elevation. My choice is the right on which allows plenty of clear valleys to descend in and a left turn at the lake to the strip. This little flight is a lot of fun.

Old Crow - This flight is going to be a multiple stop flight delivering supplies and mail to the native population.

Pelly Crossing - Originally a ferry crossing and construction camp during the construction of the Klondike Highway. Now a native village with hopes of a piece of the tourist trade due to it being on the highway. There are two small generators to be dropped off here. The mountains run from 3200' on up to 4900', pay attention during your descent.

McQuenten - Missionaries and trappers where panning for gold in the river long before the gold rush was on, but is now a small native village. In addition to the small package cargo there is a small medical shipment.

Chapman Lake - Located in the Blackstone Highlands on the Dempster Highway, where the Highway starts its climb up the north fork of the Klondike River and crosses the Ogilvie Mountain. The lake stays frozen until well into June. Few other places on earth experience such great variation between the yearly high and low temperatures. Records of -70E F and 105E F have been made along the Dempster Highway. Most winters brew cold snaps of -40E F, which last for weeks on end. In contrast, July’s temperatures average 80E F, similar to areas much further south. We drop off a shipment of building supplies and mail.

Old Crow - A small town of about 300 aboriginal people; known as the Vuntut Gwitchen. Old Crow is located at the confluence of the Crow and Porcupine Rivers. We have a shipment of building material for Old Crow. Due to the short daylight in the winter we will be lying over and flying back to Whitehorse in the morning with stops at Dawson City and Beaver Creek

Burwash Landing - Burwash is where Rudyard Kipling was born. What? Oh I see, sorry that was in East Sussex, England. H-m-m-m, thought you had me eh? This is actually the home of the Kluane First Nation.. It is located on the largest lake in the Yukon, Kluane Lake. The population at Burwash is actually 89 people with many more in the surrounding area. You will fly the Beaver loaded with supplies for the Trading Post. You select the route but a recommended route is over the mountains to Silver City starting to get down to 4500’ as you approach Silver City then follows the lake to Burwash Landing, a very enjoyable flight. In the winter we fly the Beaver individually to each of the strips in the proximity, Haines Junction, Silver City and Burwash. During the summer months the flights are in the Otter stopping at each location.

Silver City - Silver City is near Kluane Lake and with St Elias Mountain as a backdrop is a very scenic site. Formerly a RCMP camp, all that remains are seven old cabins. The photo shows one in 1994

Whitehorse - The return flight from Old Crow will make multiple stops to deliver cargo and passengers.

Dawson City - Flew this leg in the early morning, actually in the dark, leaving at 0900. Hardly made out the horizon, then suddenly the faint outline of a mountain peak off in the distance started to appear. I was on a heading of 142E - when a faint wisp of light started to appear, the sun was rising. It was a beautiful site to see the outline of the mountain peak getting darker and larger as the sun rose. The cargo for Dawson City is all for the Mine Recording Office.

Beaver Creek -The most westerly settlement in Canada. It is primarily a border post and service center for the Alaska Highway. Although it is located on the Alaskan Highway it is relatively cut off from other Yukon communities being almost 300 kilometers northwest of Haines Junction. The load for Beaver is small package airfreight and mail.

Whitehorse - The weather doesn’t look too hot for this leg gonna’ have to go IFR all the way. Those 6 - 7000' peaks are hard to see in the clouds. We have three passengers for Whitehorse, going shopping.

Mac Millen Pass - Your flight today is to bring a group of Geologists who are surveying Lead and Zinc mining sites.

Ross River - Take the Twin Otter with a load of cargo for the oil companies. They will have a back load of cargo and mail for you.

Mayo - Mayo is located in the central part of the Yukon. It is generally marked as “The Silver Trail” and is located on the Silver Trail, which connects the communities of Stewart Crossing, Mayo, Keno City and the “Mining ghost town of Elsa”. The Binet House is also located there. The Beaver is loaded with small packages, mail and medical supplies for the nursing station.

Faro - The Town of Faro is only about 3 decades old, being established in 1969. Since its beginning, Faro has played a pivotal role in the economy of the territory, and even now has a major effect on the entire territory with the mine is not operating. The Northern Lights are spectacular from Faro. Your flight is a load of small packages, mail and medical supplies.

Sheldon Lake - Located on the North Canol Road (remember the pipeline?) It is a great fishing spot and it’s black sand by the lake draws considerable interest. The load to Sheldon Lake is supplies and mail for the outpost. You will also have a Nurse who is taking sick call for the Native population. Expect sick call to take approximately two hours, if it takes longer be prepared, due to shortness of daylight, to layover. That means your sleeping gear and possibly sleeping on the floor. This area is very mountainous and I have flown to Sheldon Lake many times, may I suggest a heading of 19E which will bring you about 17 miles north of Sheldon Lake but allows you a clear approach to make your descent free of the mountains.

Watson Lake - The gateway to the Yukon. Also known for the “Forest of Sign Posts, which started when a young soldier from the US Army Corp of Engineers, homesick, placed a sign post for his hometown “Danville, Illinois”. The last I heard there where over 22,000 signs. Next time you are there, you can add yours. With the Twin Otter’s we can now haul loads, further and quicker than we have been doing with the Otter’s. But first you have to catch a scheduled airline flight to Vancouver where you will be picking up a Twin Otter and fly it back to Watson Lake. After looking over the charts and talking to a few pilots you have decided that you will fly back via the trench.

At the hotel met up with a group from a bus tour, we talked about their trip so far and when I mentioned I was flying to Watson Lake via Kamloops and Prince George, they seemed interested. I explained that I had just picked up a, new to us, Twin Otter and flying it back to Watson Lake. One of the men said that their bus was heading to Kamloops and wondered if they could charter the plane to Kamloops, flying over the snowy mountains. I didn’t see any reason why not, so in the morning they placed all their baggage on the bus and headed to the airport to meet up with me. There were a total of 14 people and they would catch up with the bus at Kamloops. I had studied my charts and selected what I thought would be a scenic flight and not much off my course. Think Vancouver (CYVR) - Hope (CYHE) - Lytton (CYLY) - Kamloops (CYKA) would hit the spot. Out of Vancouver I followed the river to Hope, out of Hope I followed the Fraser Canyon Highway and the Fraser River to Lytton where I picked up the N Thompson River to Kamloops. After landing at Kamloops they asked us to have a second breakfast with them, which of course we did. They had nothing but raves over the journey and the way we seemed to go out of our way to let them see the raw beauty of the country. After breakfast we parted ways but not after they gave my co-pilot and me a $100 tip each.

All fueled up and on our way to Prince George. Our route is Kamloops (CYKA) - William Lake (CYWL) - Quesnel (CYQZ) - Prince George (CYXS). Hank and I decided to continue as we had, FBR - fly by river or road. So out of Kamloops we picked up the N Thompson River again and back tracked a bit till we picked up Hwy 97 which we meandered with all the way to William Lake, Quesnel and on into Prince George. The leg to Watson Lake is long, so we decide to layover at Prince George, known as the Northern Capital of British Columbia.

With a very tasty breakfast and an early departure we are off for Watson Lake. Here we pick up “The Trench” as the route is referred. Out of Prince George we pick up Hwy 97 again until it bears sharply to the right, continue straight ahead to Williston Lake, which we will fly the length of, to Fort Ware and after Fort Ware it is more or less a straight shot at Watson Lake. We will be following Finlay River for most of the way.

Watson Lake ahead. You will be landing just in time to refuel and take a group of tourists back to Whitehorse. They had flown down two days ago on the Otter.

St Johns - The flight will be a load of empty fuel drums to Ft St John. Looks like one bird is going to be tied up delivering the Av-gas and fuel oil for quite awhile as they start to re-supply the outposts for the long winter. The flight from Watson Lake is 3/4 full of empty fuel drums; we will pick up more at Ft Nelson. A check of the weather shows rain with a ceiling of 2200' topping at 5100'. Well that means instrument all the way to Ft Nelson at least. One of the junior pilot’s asks to ride the right seat, it’s his day off but he would like the instrument time, OK lets go. Your route will be Watson Lake to Ft Nelson and then on to Ft St John. It’s 0900 as you start your roll down the runway, rain is pretty heavy, and the runway isn’t the easiest thing to see. We will be heading out on the Watson Lake VOR 114.9 until we pick up Ft Nelson 112.9. In this weather the runway at Ft Nelson is sure going to be a chore to pick out. Our altitude is 5000', in the soup all the way. Dark enough out there to be flying in a closet. Ft Nelson ahead, let’s set up for our approach to rwy 3. We have the runway now lets get down without a hitch. All going well, have the runway but barely as we descend. If we lose the runway we abort and head for Ft St John as it is clear there and we are ok on fuel. Starting to see more of the runway and your right on line with the runway, now bring this baby in on the money.

The drums to be picked up are on board and secured. Weather is supposed to clear about 20 minutes into our flight, so off we go, this time we have the Ft St John VOR 114.2 up and running at the gitgo. The weather forecast is correct, weather is clearing and the clouds are really thinning out I actually see the ground for the first time. Sure glad that was rain and not snow or ice. Clear all the way to St John, we will be going in on 29. There’s Ft St John so lets set up our approach and the co-pilot has the landing.

The trip back is uneventful as the weather has cleared out and we over fly Ft Nelson on the way back to Watson Lake.

Ft Liard - This is going to be a multiple stop flight with cargo, mail and medical supplies to La Biche River, Pointed Mountain, Ft Liard and Nahanna Butte. The stops are all close together and the load works out perfect for a multiple stop flight rather than two or three. Shouldn’t be any complications on the flight, so off you go, on your way.

Teslin - Have an Otter load of supplies for the Trading Post. The wx is not the greatest, snow and fairly heavy cloud cover. With mountains having peaks in the 6500' range gonna fly at 8000'. On a nice clear day the route I like is to follow the Alaskan Highway at about 4500', a really enjoyable flight, Why not try it, you will be below the clouds, you’ll love it. But if you fly above the weather this means you fly IFR. Oh yes, remember that if you selected Pine Lake as your alternate, it is not maintained during the winter so be careful if you have to use it. That is the Dorsey Range you will fly over and everything is above 5800'. With your approach coming up, if you went over the weather, I suggest you ease over to the left and find Teslin Lake and make your descent there, clear of the mountains. I chose to follow the road and have the runway so lets set up our approach to 26.

Toad River - We have a load of supplies for the Trading Post. Let’s quit doing things the easy way let’s do it the bush pilot way. We will fly this flight the real interesting and challenging way, by road. Yes we will follow the winding Alaskan Highway out of Watson Lake at about 4500’. We will fly under the weather system, there being a light snow as we depart but we can see the road and the snow is not supposed to last long. Or you can fly direct and try to get down in the mountains. My choice is the road, so on your way. After landing and off loading, the next leg on this flight is to Dawson Creek with the rest of the load.

Thanks for flying Bush Pilot Division

Bill Odell and Rusty

wradodel@tampabay.rr.com