LAKE AND PEN AIR - Unlocking Alaska: September 2016

9/29/2016

New Staff!

We're so happy to introduce our newest team member - Josh!

He lived in Port Alsworth three years before moving this August to the big city of Anchorage. He'll be working part-time at our Merrill Field office while he takes aviation classes at UAA and builds his flying hours. He's a pilot, yo!

As a Ramp Dude he'll be weighing and loading your freight, fueling and cleaning the planes, and possibly doing snow removal this winter - unless we have a repeat of last year.

I know you'll enjoy getting to know Josh - he's a hard worker, has a great smile, plays the guitar and sings. And like most Alaskans, he loves exploring.

9/26/2016

When Fall and Winter meet in Port Alsworth

The first morning you wake up to see your town's mountain tops dusted with snow is exhilarating!
Even if you know it's the start of 5 months of winter. It's just too beautiful to wish away.
It's been a little crazy around these parts:
Sept 21 - technically Summer.
Sept 22 - first day of Fall.
Sept 23 - Port Alsworth residents woke to their first sight of Winter...

This is the time of year for crisp mornings followed by warm afternoons. Who doesn't love that?!

News of snow capped mountains in September send people digging through their cupboards to make sure they have a healthy supply of hot chocolate. Then they usually head right out to soak up the views, get in one of the last kayak paddles of the year, hike Tanalian Mountain for a taste of freshly fallen snow, and take a few photos of the glowing yellow birch leaves before they all blow away.

What a delightful time of year!

9/22/2016

It's a great day to fly with Lake and Pen Air!

For your next flight to Awesome Land call LPA: 907-781-2228 or 907-345-2228

9/19/2016

Our Vie!

The US National Parks Centennial is a big deal! We just flew another adorable couple to the Lake Clark National Park, and the weather was perfect once again for amazing exploration.

Cess & Madison, and their adopted cat Vladimir Kitten (who wears a life vest when kayaking) are driving their camper van to as many US National Parks as possible, and flying to the rest.

They (Bradley Cooper & Goldilocks) chose to fly with Lake and Pen Air and we put them in our rocket - the Bonanza! It was a gorgeous flight making them ooh an ooh the whole way, and there was a fair amount of head swiveling and photo snapping as they enjoyed the incredible scenery.

Their stay in Port Alsworth ended a little earlier than planned when Cess hatcheted his ankle during their camping adventure up at Lake Kontrashabuna.

Still, they posted 8 amazing photos on their Instagram between Sept 3-7.
Check it out and follow along on their National Parks adventure if you get a chance.

Look with caution though or you'll likely be inspired to visit a National Park or two yourself.

9/15/2016

A Summer Flight from Anchorage to Port Alsworth

Flying with Lake and Peninsula Airlines is memorable!

Besides the amazing customer service and the outstanding pilots, take a look at this view!

Anchorage Ramp on Merrill Field...

As you cross the Cook Inlet mud flats look for whales to the South,
or on a clear day like this Mt Denali to the North...

People love seeing the steaming Mt. Redoubt volcano...

All through the Lake Clark Mountain Pass you'll see huge swooping glaciers like this one...

And beautiful valley deltas flowing with melted snow from the surrounding mountains...

The stunning Little Lake Clark where mountains drop right into the tropical blue of the glacier fed lake...

This gorgeous place is just two minutes out of Port Alswoth, looking North over Lake Clark...

And here we are at the Port Alsworth Ramp!

What an unforgettable flight!

9/12/2016

Alaska Adventure: Geo-Cache

Have you ever tried Geo-cacheing?

It's not like Pokemon Go. It's way cooler.

It's like treasure hunting: someone hides a waterproof object (sometimes they hold prizes!) and submits it's GPS coordinates to geocaching.com. Other people input those GPS coordinates into their mobile device and go looking for them. It's family friendly, free, and a great way to explore your city, state and world.

Literally. People are doing this all around the world - there's over 2.9 million geo-caches around the globe, and more are added every day. People love it so much they go on world wide 'vacations' just for the purpose of geo-caching.

Lake and Pen Air just launched it's first geo-cache!

It's near our office in Anchorage. And we're setting up one in Port Alsworth too.

Come join the fun!

1 - Get the free geocache app for your smart phone and login.

2 - Type in the city & state where you want to find a geocache.

3 - Choose a cache you're interested in and hit start.

If you want: Log your finds on your Geocache account and connect with other geo-cachers around the world.

Gotta find them all!

9/08/2016

Bush Flying 101: Getting Liquid Gold To Port Alsworth

No one can survive without fuel in Bush Alaska. It's a basic necessity like air, water, and food.

For towns off the road system, like Port Alsworth, fuel must be flown in.

Our liquid gold arrives on big DC-4's!

They announce their arrival on the CB-radio, then we hear their deep thunderous engines as they do a fly by to inspect the runway. After a large u-turn down the lake, the roaring plane swoops in for landing on Lake and Pen Air's beautiful 4400' gravel runway. Dave Wilder keeps his runway in tip top shape!

In the summer Lake and Pen Air is very busy flying tourists and locals around Alaska and selling fuel to private pilots, so we sometimes see the big Evret planes and their friendly crew several times a week.

They pull up as close as possible to our above ground tanks, connect their full fuel bladders to our empty tanks with a bright green hose, and turn on the flow. It only takes a few minutes and they're done.