Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, AK

Today did not go exactly as planned but it was a wonderful and adventure filled day anyway!  We packed out of the cabin this morning to head over to Natron Air for our flight over to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge.  We first waited for some fog to clear and then made our first attempt (as you can tell this story may be lengthy).  Unfortunately, while we took off fine, the visibility just wasn’t good enough for us to make the flight so we returned to the airport.

Now, I was the co-pilot (in seat only) but did get to learn about the runway lights and landing and lots of fun information.  If I stay at a Holiday Inn Express, I’m fairly certain I could land a plane now.

Tim is the pilot and he and his wife Janet run Natron Air.  Two of the kindest, friendliest people you will ever meet.  We came back to the hanger to wait for round two.  They had two amazing dogs, Gizmo and Toby who were super friendly and were very happy to see us again.

The lady who went up with us the first time was trying to figure out what to do.  She was only going to be at Silver Salmon Creek for one night so if we didn’t make it today, her trip would be off as she already had plans for tomorrow.

After reviewing the weather, Janet and Tim suggested we have a back-up plan just in case.  They were in contact with Silver Salmon in regards to our arrival.  LJ checked back in with Mindy and the cabin we were in last night was going to be available tonight so she said to just let her know if we needed it again.  Whew!  Big sigh of relief that we didn’t have to worry about a place to stay.

We hung out with the dogs and watched tv and chatted with Tim & Janet and soon it seemed like it might be clear enough on the radar to give it another go.  Bev back to co-pilot, LJ and cameras in the back and Tim in the pilot seat!  Off we go!  We got a little further this time but still not enough visibility to make the trip.  Tim was apologetic but we appreciated his caution, our safety was his number one priority and that is definitely what we want in a pilot!

Pilot and Co-Pilot

Amazing views

Back on the ground and guess who was so happy to see us?  Gizmo and Toby!  This time Tim said he just didn’t feel like we’d be able to make the trip over today with what the weather forecast was and the radar.

LJ took a chance and called Mindy back to see if there was any possibility of doing one of our fishing charters we had scheduled with them tomorrow instead of later in the week since our plans had changed.  She said that actually yes, could take us tomorrow and would be willing to take us out so she gave us directions on when / where to meet her and we said our goodbyes to Tim and Janet, with a plan to return tomorrow.

Off we went to explore Soldotna a bit more.  Tim told us that the Visitors Center actually had walkway right down to the river and we could fish directly from there so we headed off to check it out.

LJ fishes the Soldotna

Beautiful Rainbow Trout

Soldotna River

We chose Pizza Boys for dinner and talked about tomorrow’s fishing adventure and hoped that the weather would be conducive for our flight to Silver Salmon!