Talkeetna Air Taxi

Now that we are approaching the end of September we are finally getting clear skies and consecutive days without rain.  

Sections of Talkeetna were under water and flooding last week due to rain almost everyday leading up to the flood as the Talkeetna River moved into neighborhoods and ran through the roads.

 

This photo is taken looking at the airport, as you can see the water kept rising and there was a voluntary evacuation called for the town of Talkeetna.

We moved our planes to higher ground to keep them out of the water, which led to a great opportunity for their fall calendar shot.

 

With these clear days, the roads are drying out clean up is under way and the town is back to normal although it was quieted down quite a bit now that we are at the end of our season. Now it is time for winter operations and projects to begin...

We dropped off our first NOVA raft trip to go down the Talkeetna river and through the canyon.  While flying in and scouting the river, the Toilet Bowl was clear of logs and debris that proved to be a problem last year.  Due to excessive snow levels, rain fall and gorgeous summer days this year, most rivers around the state are pretty high this year. 

Looking to go into the Yellow Jacket strip this season?  We can get you there with our DeHavilland Beaver we have equipped with some fat Tundra tires just for expeditions like this.

Come one, come all! Just come dressed up as a TV character. Think Jersey Shore, Gilligan's Island, Fat Albert, The Office, The Lone Ranger, MASH, Charlies Angels, Fantasy Island, Starsky and Hutch... the list can go on and on.

We work hard to keep things running smooth around here...

Check out the cool motorcycle one of our customers drove up in from California. What will they think of next?

Team Salamander spent 10 fun days on the Pika, flying out July 1, 2011. Weather was in-and-out sun, allowing a total of 5 climbing days. The trend was toward evening clearing, with two days of full sun. The moats are in but with rain and warming things are quickly melting. There is still a decent snow bridge to the Gargoyle Buttress. The start of the first pitch had some ice which we attacked with ice axes (though one could climb with rock shoes and creative route finding). An Anchorage team replaced the webbing on the first 9 anchors last week. The Middle Troll has widening moats as well, but there are still a couple of intact bridges. The first 200' are loose gravel and boulders, and are not safe for more than one party to be on at a time. Lost Marsupials approach was straightforward. Summit ridge with corniced, soft snow. AMS arete approach without major crevasses, though the glaciers on either side are bare to the dust layer and snow cover melting fast. 

Hey all you rafters out there, we just flew out our first group to Yellow Jacket to run the Talkeetna River. 
Here are the conditions that we have from the group....


The landing strip at Yellow jacket.




We just flew in with TAT and floated the Talkeetna. After the entrance to Toilet Bowl a log is jammed at the narrow spot below the entrance wave and above Toilet Bowl. At the water level we ran it at Saturday, June 25, the log and some branch stubs were exposed at the middle section. It appears that water is flowing over the log at the left and right sides, but the very powerful eddies on either side force rafts over the middle. Our 3 rafts all got hung up attempting to run over the log and made for some very exciting moments of high siding, weight shifting, and thinking about jettisoning cargo. We made it, but I wouldn’t want to try it at a lower level. It needs some chain saw work if it can be figured out how to access it to cut.

-Thanks to Kelly and the group for the current reports.