THE LAUNCHING PAD for this long and eventful fall flight over some of North America's most remote, imposing, and dramatic landscapes is a muddy Alaskan strip barely wide enough to keep the Aviat Husky's oversized tires off the actual tundra. Autumn has arrived in Alaska, and frosty nights are becoming longer and darker. The rivers in this worldrenowned fishing region are pink, green, and brown in places with spawning Chinook, silver, and sockeye salmon. B Y DAV E H I R S C H M A N I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y B R E T T A F F R U N T I 80 | AOPA PILOT February 2018