Finally, the sky has cleared, the rain has stopped, and the wind calmed down. Today we will get our Helicopter ride to Umnak Island.
After breakfast we went to the Hanger and loaded up. Our suitcases went in pods on the side of the Helicopter. As we waited to depart, the US Coast Guard Helicopter took off. It was a pretty impressive Helicopter!
We were very excited to be getting a Helicopter ride.
On a quick side note, you can see the runway in one of my photos, and how the mountains, and water are right there.
We took off, and now that the sun was out, what a beautiful sight Dutch Harbor was. We got the ariel view of where we had drove the day before.
As we left the town behind, we were treated to views of some fantastic scenery. Mountains, with streams, rivers, and waterfalls coming out of every crevice it seemed. It was so neat flying between the mountains. I felt safe in the helicopter, now that the weather had improved.
We saw Mt. Mukushum, a volcano, and then we could see the Bering Sea.
We saw a few old shipwrecks, and we flew over a place where some planes had crashed in WWII.
Lonnie took us on a bit of a tour of Unalaska Island. From the air we saw the free range cattle, and some sheep, that belong to a guy named Art, (we meet him later).
We saw an old dock left over from the war.
The really spectacular sight, my favorite, was the wild horses. There were large herds of them running free. Lonnie chased them with the helicopter a bit so we could watch them run. What a sight!
Then we had to cross the pass, to get to Umnak Island, Fort Glenn, our final destination. As we flew toward Umnak we could see Mt. Tulik, a volcano, and a big slab of rock in the ocean they call Shiprock.
We had a little look at our island. There was lots of blackness, volcanic ash, and aftermath from the volcano which erupted in the summer of 2008. Lonnie and his family were on the island and had to evacuate when it happened. Their accounts are rather frightening. I sure hope it doesn't happen again.
The land is recovering nicely from the eruption, but Lonnie's wife says it's not as nice and lush as it was. Perhaps with more time it will be again.
We landed, in front of the cabin we'd be staying in. Then set to work. Josh had to install a hot water heater for us, so we'd have hot water. After considerable frustration, searching for parts, and tools, he had it working by nightfall. I was very happy for that.
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