The Waunakee Rotary Club was treated to some stunning photography and travel stories at its April 8 virtual meeting, when Jeffrey Russell presented about his fly-in trip to Alaska. Jeffrey flew his Piper SuperCub to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve with a fellow pilot friend who flew his own plane.
Both flew 40 hours at 90 miles per hour to get there in the small. Once there, they flew over glaciers in what Jeffrey called “an unbelievably beautiful area.”
Among the scenes shared were Bagley Ice Field, a 134-mile lake ice field that feeds dozens upon dozens of glaciers.
They stopped at one area where yurts have been set up for fly-in visitor and had dinner with a professional violinist from Australia.
“Here we are in the country’s largest national park on an airplane trip, and we meet a violinist from Australia. This is all part of the adventure,” Jeffrey said.
He also shared photos of an old copper mine at the center of the park. One of the largest copper mines in the world just after the turn of the 20th century, it has been preserved there.
The two went on to stay at a friend’s cabin at Lake Iliamna, the third largest lake, and visited Brooks Falls at Katmai National Park.
There Jeffrey photographed brown bear cubs playing and adult bears grabbing fish at the top of the falls. He said the eating was non-stop, and the bears typically gain 30 to 40 percent of their body weight during the salmon run.
All told, Jeffrey flew 113 hours on the 9,000 mile trip.
A Westport resident, the pilot also shared some historical pictures of the Waunakee Airport and the village. Begun by Jerome Ripp, the airport is in its 75 anniversary year, and has inspired other pilots, including a Waunakee High School alumni who is now in the aviation program at Purdue.
For 60 years, the airport has hosted a fly-in breakfast. Today it is more of a community breakfast. It will be on Sept. 12 this year.
To watch the presentation, visit:
Passcode: bBV4i!?#
Other news:
-Jim Kattner has emailed the club about plans for WaunaFest. It sounds like service clubs can have individual food tents.
-Clean-up day at the Village Center and Village Hall is at 9 a.m. Saturday.
-Tri 4 for schools is coming up as well. Jim will have a sign-up soon.
-The board of directors has decided to hold off on in-person club meetings due to the uptick of COVID-19 cases as the variant has begun to emerge.
Birthdays: None
Anniversaries: None
