A flight from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna Denali Base Camp with Sheldon Air Service on Saturday May 15, 2021. The flight with David Lee of Sheldon Air Service was spectacular and uneventful. The weather has cloudy on the higher parts of Denali but the lower Kahiltna and Tokositna glaciers were open. It was a thrill for me after missing time on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna some 40 years after I first summited Denali in 1979. As a member of the Redington Butcher Expedition I can still remember the time there and on the West Buttress Route taking a dogteam to the 20,320 Ft. summit. While this was much easier it brought back many memories of climbing in the Alaska Range in the 1980s. This was filmed periodically as it was a cargo pickup drop off flight and the aircraft had to return to TKA to get the climbers and take them back to Base Camp for their climb. I have been flying with David since the early 1980s and have found him to one of the most calm individuals you well ever meet. Also very competent at flying on wheel skis 24/7/365 for 42 years around the mountain and in the upper Susitna Valley. Video by Rob Stapleton/Alaskafoto, Music Bensound "All around us." By Dan Phillips. alaskafoto.com, #GoPro #CanonUSA #Avgeek #avgeeks
22 май 2021
