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I didn't take a single picture after leaving Inuvik yet I still have stories to relate from the trip home. I've included here the map that I had at the top so you can follow along the route, but I have no other pictures. You'll just have to see the pictures in your mind as I attempt to put images there with my words.
Heading back to Normal Wells, we heard there were brush fires within a few miles of town and the people there were getting ready to evacuate if necessary. As Robin and I were planning to go to Yellowknife on the way back but didn't quite have the range to make it in one hop, we were going to have to fly to Ft. Simpson again. Since we only had enough day left to fly one leg and didn't really want to stay in Ft. Simpson, we intended to stay in Norman Wells, assuming we'd still be able to get out in the Maule in the morning. Unfortunately, the one hotel in town was full of firefighters. So, there being no room at the inn, off we went to Ft. Simpson and the next morning to Yellowknife.
Now Yellowknife was the largest city we'd been in in quite a while. It's an actual city. Still, at the airport we were told to park the plane just over there on the edge of the taxiway and, once in town, it was not so big we couldn't just walk wherever we wanted to go.
On the ride into the hotel that the FBO found for us, the driver told us we ought to visit the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. That seemed kind of odd but apparently they're quite proud of their Assembly building and, after visiting it, I think their pride is well placed.
We also read that we could find fine dining in Yellowknife and were rather looking forward to that. We were also hoping there was some truth to it as it had been some time since we'd had anything that could be called fine dining. Not that the food we had on the river was bad, in fact it was quite good and we had plenty, but a nice sit down meal, prepared by someone else, was a treat we hoped to find. And find it we did. A couple different places we tried were very good. I've forgotten the names but just know there's good food in Yellowknife.
Even though I don't remember the names, one of the places was adjacent to the water, was also a hotel, and had seaplane tie-ups for their hotel guests. We flew into the airport, not knowing the situation at the seaplane base, but next time I'm there in a seaplane, I'll definitely check out that accommodation.
After a couple days in Yellowknife, we headed south towards home. Our first refueling stop was Uranium City . At this point we had not landed on water once. What's the point of hauling those heavy floats around if I'm never going to use them? So I called ahead to make sure fuel was available at the seaplane base, was assured there was and told to look for the 180 at the dock to know where to go, and we headed out.
At Uranium City we found the 180 there tied up to an old dock. I picked the dock next to it, tied up, and got out. There was no one around and, except for the Cessna, it looked like there hadn't been anyone there in some time. The only buildings nearby had obviously been abandoned years ago, I couldn't find a pay-phone, and my cellphone had less signal than I've ever seen.
While taxiing in, I'd seen a couple women herding three kids at a nearby swimming hole. After not finding anyone else, I asked them if they knew where I might find a phone so I could call for fuel. Well they knew who most likely was the person to handle fuel so they just drove me up to his house. His wife was there so we waited around a bit and then she drove me back to the lake where her husband and Robin had just finished fueling the plane. It turns out that he'd gone up to the airport to refuel a King Air that came in at the same time.
All fueled up, we made one more hop for the day and flew down to Lynn Lake. Again we landed at the seaplane base instead of the airport but found that it wasn't so close to town as several of the other seaplane bases we'd seen. On asking around, we were told that there was a hotel in town and they'd give us a ride into town or we could pitch our tent at the seaplane base if we wanted. They also told us that the chief was getting married that night and the partying was likely to go on until late. We chose the tent.
Wonder of wonders, this was the first dark night we'd seen since arriving in Ft. Simpson on the flight north and that night we got a great show of the northern lights. It took much longer to get used to dark nights than it did to get used to the sun staying up all the time.
The next morning we headed back the The Pas. Robin had lost her journal and was pretty sure she'd somehow left it in The Pas. We hoped someone had found it and still had it. Turns out that Clair had found it and still had it so that worked out well.
Around this time, I realized that our timing was perfect to go to the EAA convention in Oshkosh. Not exactly Robin's idea of the best time but she allowed that it wouldn't be too bad for a day or two. So we diverted south to re-enter the US much sooner than we'd otherwise intended.
We crossed the border and cleared US customs at Pinecreek, MN. On downwind in the pattern at Pinecreek, customs called us to ask if we were looking for US or Canadian customs. I guess you can go either way there.
After visiting with the nice young fellow at customs, we pushed on to Duluth that night and Oshkosh the next morning.
What can I say about Oshkosh that hasn't been written already? We only stayed a day and a half since this really wasn't Robin's thing and we'd been away for quite a while anyway. Still, I was glad to not miss it this year.
Stopping in Mt. Pleasant, MI to refuel, we met and had lunch with Danielle Rentsch and Philipp Sturm who were also on their way home from Oshkosh in a Diamond motorglider. Except they had started their trip from Switzerland flying west and were now about three-quarters of their way to completing a flight around the world. And I thought we had undertaken a significant trip. They were a lot of fun to talk with over lunch.
The next morning, we hopped across Ontario, with plans to refuel in Akron, NY and make it home that day. Weather though was really unsettled across New York, with thunderstorms building everywhere so we decided to just wait for the next morning and make the final hop then. However, the next morning it was foggy across the route and by the time the fog was clearing the thunderstorms were building again. This went on and on and we took off to visit Niagara Falls to fill the time.
After several days of this and no better forecast in sight, I looked at a weather chart and saw that this weather pattern extended all the way south and over the entire eastern half of the US. We just rented a car and drove the rest of the way.
A couple weeks later, the annoying weather system had finally cleared out and I talked my friend Stan into flying me out to get the Maule in his 180. We were flying along, fat, dumb, and happy when I noticed a sound change in the engine. I looked around and saw that we were climbing slowly. That was odd though since we were flying on autopilot. After a bit of looking around, we figured out that the alternator had gone offline and the battery voltage had just gotten low enough that the autopilot no longer worked. So we shut everything off and went home.
It turned out that it was just that the alternator belt had jumped off. We never did find out why.
A week later we tried again and the Maule was finally home. A total of 65.4 hours of flying and a lot of fun. Don't know what the next big adventure will be but I definitely want to return to the arctic someday.
