Flight Training - December 2014 - 22

AROUND THE PATCH

By Heather Baldwin

NORTH TO ALASKA

TURN YOUR 'SOMEDAY' INTO 'NOW'

A VIEW of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, from Shari
and Ken Meyer's Eclipse 500.

lmost every pilot has at least one "bucket list" trip-a journey they dream of taking one day before they hang up their
wings. For many of us, those big trips remain stuck in a future
"someday," as in: someday when there's enough time or
enough money. For 54-year-old Eclipse 500 owner Shari Meyer, that
"someday" trip was Alaska. "Not the cruise-ship Alaska," she is quick to
clarify. "Not the train Alaska. I wanted to see the real Alaska."
The trip remained a dream for the
future until this past summer, when a
lodging snag foiled her annual trek to EAA
AirVenture at Oshkosh. Although initially
disappointed, she recognized an opportunity: Why not use the money set aside
for Oshkosh to make that long-dreamedof ﬂight to the forty-ninth state? She

On June 28, 2014, Shari Meyer's
"someday" became "now." That morning,
she and Ken ﬁred up the engines on their
Eclipse in Bellingham, Washington (BLI),
and pointed the little jet north. Two fuel
stops and 1,410 nm later, they landed in
King Salmon, a village roughly 300 miles
southwest of Anchorage.

MALE BEARS JOCKEYED FOR THE BEST FISHING
SPOTS, SNATCHED FISH FROM THE FALLS, AND
ATE THEM RIGHT THERE IN THE WATER.
approached her husband and fellow pilot,
Ken Meyer, about the idea. A history buff,
Ken became enthusiastic about the plan
upon learning the Japanese had bombed
Dutch Harbor, Alaska, during World War
II and that today, a museum and many of
the original bunkers can be seen there.

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What followed were nine days of rugged adventure, heart-stopping views, and
quiet disconnection from the fast-paced
life of the contiguous United States. Take
the bears, for instance-the highlight of
the trip for Shari, an amateur photographer. On their ﬁrst morning in Alaska,

the Meyers hopped aboard a seaplane
in King Salmon for the short ﬂight to
Katmai National Park. After the required
"bear orientation," in which they were
instructed on how to behave on an island
whose bear population numbers in the
thousands, the Meyers spent the day
watching brown bears chase schools of
migrating salmon. They saw a mother
bear teach her offspring how to ﬁsh. And
Shari snapped photos at Brooks Falls,
where male bears jockeyed for the best
ﬁshing spots, snatched ﬁsh from the falls,
and ate them right there in the water.
They stayed overnight in the park on
bunk beds and returned the next day
to King Salmon before departing in the
Eclipse for Dutch Harbor.
In addition to being chock-full of littleknown history, Dutch Harbor is home
of the largest ﬁshing port in the United
States. The TV show Deadliest Catch is
ﬁlmed from there, and fans of the show
know the town is often shrouded in fog
or drizzle. "How the Japanese found it in
World War II, I have no idea," says Shari.
Very few GA pilots ﬁnd it today. "They
weren't really set up for GA," she says of
the airport. "We had to park where the
airlines park, then go in through the terminal." To refuel, they stood in line at the
airline ticket counter and, between one
passenger and another checking in for a
ﬂight, the Meyers put in an order for fuel.
While Dutch Harbor's history was
everything Ken hoped for, his trip highlight was a hike on their last full day in
Alaska. They were in Yakutat, a tiny ﬁshing village accessible only by air and sea,
and on a ﬁsherman's recommendation
trekked to a nearby lake on a rare clear

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Flight Training - December 2014

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