Bird of the Day
Red-throated loon - a lifer!
Early morning
Bill was anticipating a very special 70th birthday today. It was cloudy and cool when Alex picked us up and we headed to the Northwestern Air site.
Adventures
We met Bob (from Ontario) who piloted the Single Otter and Laurie (from Victoria) and Luke (from Cape Breton) who were pilots of the smaller Cessna 185 and Cessna 206. Jim joined us to fly with Luke. Our three float planes were in the air at 8:20am. Spectacular views of a multitude of lakes, rivers and forest below. After about an hour we ran into serious low cloud. Bob radioed the other pilots to put down at Sparks Lake.
So, after an hour and a half from Fort Smith, we landed in a derelict old fishing camp on Sparks Lake. Luckily we had permission to stop here from the owner, Charlie, who lived in Fort Smith. Luke brought us down near the shore and hopped into the frigid water in his bare feet and pulled us closer to shore with a rope. He placed a ramp so we could get to shore without getting wet.
As it was mid-morning, we had lots of time to explore the camp, and do some birding, before we joined Alex by a warm woodstove for our lunch.
After lunch, we discovered a little lake with Lesser Scaup and an exciting first-ever sighting of Red-throated Loons.
Mid-afternoon, the pilots decided to try to get us to our campsite. This time our Cessna was not able to lift up off the water. Luke returned to shore and pumped water out of the floats (with a hand pump!). We also lost Jim to the lighter Lucy. We were up!
After another scenic flight, we all set down at a refueling cache. Refueling is hard work for the Cessnas - pumping from barrels with a hand pump. The Otter had an automatic pump. Still, hard work for all to get refuelled.
After considerable delay, we took off, but Bob checked out the sky conditions towards our camp - no luck - more low cloud. Another hour in the air, then back to Sparks.
So today we flew 3.5 hours to stay at Sparks, just an hour and a half flight from Fort Smith.
We unloaded our packs at 6:45pm and found a cabin to bunk in for the night - we shared with Barb and Dave . Meanwhile, Alex put up his tent and prepared a late supper for us all - asparagus soup, shrimp pasta and fresh blueberries.
Landscape
Wildlife
Highlights
a day
