Alaska Epilogue

Before committing myself to fly to Alaska I wasn't sure if it was right for me, or worth the time and expense. Would it be better to use that time and money to travel to new faraway lands? To seek breadth in the mountains I'd already explored closer to home? Now, a month after returning home, my only regret is not having spent more time in the North, and I have a strong desire to go again. I've been fortunate enough in life to have seen a great deal of the western United States on the ground, in the air, to explore the Pacific coast from the tip of Baja to the Washington coastline, and do to a fair amount of international travel.... yet going a bit further north from home was surprisingly foreign and alluring, and I barely scratched the surface.

Trip route & places I landed.

If you've just found this blog, I'm writing up a diary of the trip, dating the posts as they were on each day of the journey. If you'd like to follow chronologically (i.e., not the way blogger will display them on its own), this list may be useful (not all the legs have been written up just yet!):

• So begins the northbound odyssey
• Seattle
• North to the Yukon
• North to the Yukon... the trench
• Weathered in Watson Lake
• Southeast Alaska attempts, and Whitehorse
• Wrangell St. Elias wonder, and Alaska, at last
• Marshes, moraines, mountains, and rain
• Mooney fun in Talkeetna, introduction to Anchorage
• On the ground in Anchorage
• Chugach hikes
• Seward & Exit Glacier
• Back in the air - IFR to Homer
• Heaven is spelled "Seldovia"
• Talkeetna Revisited
• Denali color
• Homeward Bound  
• Return to the lower 48
• Home again 

If you're considering making the trip as a first-timer, these may interest you:

• How to cross the U.S./Canadian border in an airplane
• Weather services for pilots in the North

Numbers:

• Aircraft: 1966 Mooney M20E
• Number of mechanical breakdowns or things that broke along the way: 0
• Flight time: About 40 hours in the air
• Distance: A bit over 5,100 nautical miles, round trip
• Least expensive avgas: Anchorage Merrill field, $5.09/gallon
• Most expensive: Whitehorse, Yukon, $8.40CDN/gallon
• Nights camping: 9; in hotels/B&Bs: 3; in hostels: 3; couch surfing: 2
• Cars rented: 3