Flight to the Arctic

The shuttle picked us up at 7:00 to bring us to Wright Air Service. We did some Tai Chi while waiting for the pilots to load the TINY planes - only room for the pilot, 3 passengers and some gear, so we needed 2 airplanes.

The 2.5 hour flight provided gorgeous views of tundra, forested hills, braided meandering rivers and finally - the Brooks Range. The last half of the flight was a bit challenging for me - some turbulence and snow flurries made me feel queasy.

The 'runway' was a short strip of tundra that had been cleared of bushes. We bounced to a stop in a beautiful valley surrounded by the jagged, grey rocky peaks of the magnificent Brooks Range. There is a pile of old sun-bleached moose antlers nearby so pilots can spot the landing strip more easily.