Alaska BC flying

[Lee]

The dream is finally becoming reality. I plan to fly the Alaska Back Country for the entire month of June. Unfortunately, just my wife and I (others who were planning on going are currently unable). A few things in preparation.

1- I would like to leaving Salt Lake City June 1, returning June 30 (dates workable). Would anybody like to join, even if it's for just the trip up and/or back only?

2-I have an FX3 with 39 usable gallons. Which route do you prefer; The coast, the trench or the Alaskan highway?

3-Is there any recommendation to bring along extra fuel? Space is an issue. Thing work with fuel stops. However, did you wish you had brought fuel bladders?

4-For those who have already made this trip, what were the highlight areas you would recommend I visit. Maybe share your experience of what you would do or do different.

[Springloaded]

I’ve done the trip twice from Fl. The trench the first time the coast the second time. Both were cool trips. The coast is a lot prettier, I’d go up one way back the other. They’re Lots of water with no beach on the coast not much for emergency landing spots on wheels till you get past Juneau, so if that concerns you you might want to rethink the coast. Weather was pretty iffy ALOT less than 100 ceiling and Vis was really low.We wore life vest till we got to Juneau. We really enjoyed the scenery.
The trench is remote but you have plenty of landing spots along the way. You can pull back and make it with your fuel no problem. Weather could dictate which one you do. I’ve had a cargo/fuel pods both times. You could easily do either one without as long as you don’t mind stopping in Canada along the way, wasn’t an option for me. I would bring a couple bags just in case you go somewhere it’s tight on fuel. I’d say you need to spend sometime in the wrangles pretty cool area. Fly Denali for sure. Both trips we would talk to locals and they would always have great suggestions to go see, so that’s what we’d do the next day. We didn’t plan our route so we never knew what or where we were going till the night before or that morning. We avoided all the tourists areas like the plague. I based out of anchorage the first trip, second time we didn’t base out of anywhere because we didn’t like having to go back for our stuff. That was a lot better for us. Too bad you can’t find someone to join you. Really fun with 2 planes and safety margin goes way up.
Do different? Next summer think I’m going to fly out then airline home for couple weeks then go back and spend 2-3 weeks In AK. Then fly home. I don’t know how to relax so when you go hard for 3-4 weeks straight you get burned out.
Have Fun
chuck

[Lee]

I’ve done the trip twice from Fl. The trench the first time the coast the second time. Both were cool trips. The coast is a lot prettier, I’d go up one way back the other. They’re Lots of water with no beach on the coast not much for emergency landing spots on wheels till you get past Juneau, so if that concerns you you might want to rethink the coast. Weather was pretty iffy ALOT less than 100 ceiling and Vis was really low.We wore life vest till we got to Juneau. We really enjoyed the scenery.
The trench is remote but you have plenty of landing spots along the way. You can pull back and make it with your fuel no problem. Weather could dictate which one you do. I’ve had a cargo/fuel pods both times. You could easily do either one without as long as you don’t mind stopping in Canada along the way, wasn’t an option for me. I would bring a couple bags just in case you go somewhere it’s tight on fuel. I’d say you need to spend sometime in the wrangles pretty cool area. Fly Denali for sure. Both trips we would talk to locals and they would always have great suggestions to go see, so that’s what we’d do the next day. We didn’t plan our route so we never knew what or where we were going till the night before or that morning. We avoided all the tourists areas like the plague. I based out of anchorage the first trip, second time we didn’t base out of anywhere because we didn’t like having to go back for our stuff. That was a lot better for us. Too bad you can’t find someone to join you. Really fun with 2 planes and safety margin goes way up.
Do different? Next summer think I’m going to fly out then airline home for couple weeks then go back and spend 2-3 weeks In AK. Then fly home. I don’t know how to relax so when you go hard for 3-4 weeks straight you get burned out.
Have Fun
chuck

Thank you for your words of wisdom. Much appreciated.
Current plan, weather dependent, is to take the trench up and the coast back. We are leaving ourselves wide-open to take suggestions in route. I'm glad it worked for you. It gives me confidence. I will be taking 2-5 gallon fuel bladders that are long enough to straddle the wings struts just outboard of the jury struts. I will burn 10 gallons of fuel and then empty the bladder into the tank so they're not out on the wings for very long-if Needed.
Without getting into the debate between bear spray versus gun (we are taking both)… I was able to obtain a handgun permit to transport the gun through Canada (applications available on line). The maximum they would allow is a 7 day window. Although I do have a permit, the final authorization will occur by the border agent. Of note, they did limit me to 10 rounds of ammunition.
On the subject of bears, I've done a lot of reading on the personalities of brown versus black bears. Encounters are handled differently. We did get the Ursack to put out food (freeze dried) in as these are "bear proof".

Also, Ted Waltman's site Fly2AK.com is worth its weight in gold. a very helpful site.

I will be taking photos and would like to share this epic adventure. Hopefully it will encourage others to do the same. That is, share their adventures.

[Lee]

Trip update… Made it to the Canadian border with hand gun permit in hand. Unfortunately, the Canadian border patrol could care less about the federal permit issued by the Canadian royal mounted police. It appears one hand has no idea what the other hand is doing, nor do either branches of government care. In short. I was not allowed to bring a handgun into Canada. The border patrol did say they would allow a rifle or shotgun without any permit from the Canadian mounted police. Go figure.
As far as the trip north to Alaska, I did take the trench route. The weather was fantastic and only outdone by the unbelievable views provided by mother nature. Certainly a trip of a lifetime. The cub is the perfect vehicle to take. I landed on countless sand bars, stayed the night in a tent and enjoyed the exquisite beauty. In my opinion, the 2, 5 gallon fuel bags is a must. Strapped to the struts, I was unable to detect any change in flight characteristics.
Now that we've made it to Alaska, the adventure continues.