I went on a bit of an adventure recently, and I found out that it is harder to get away than you think.I flew to Pilot Point, Alaska to pick up some friends and make a trip to Aniakchak Crater, which is a National Monument, a massive volcanic caldera, and really spectacular. You can't fly in there until you have excellent visibility and light winds-- a rare occurrence on the Alaska Peninsula. We allowed a 4-5 day window to get our weather. It happened on day one. We piled in Beryl, my 206, and headed to Surprise Lake, in the center of the caldera.
After viewing every type of cooled lava and ash we could imagine, wading in a bubbling mineral spring, and climbing a cinder cone, we headed back to Pilot Point, where my friends commercial fish for salmon.
I hung out for a couple days, got to pick the net and deliver fish with the set netters, celebrate a birthday and help smoke fish.
Finally, weather started to move in and I decided to head home. A fisherman joined me for a ride back to civilization. Before we left, I told my friend Cate where we were going. I didn't file any kind of flight plan, because we were so far in the bush, we couldn't reach a flight service station by radio.
Our flight to Naknek, another town on Bristol Bay, was uneventful. We landed to get fuel and decided to see a friend who owns a commercial fish packing plant in town. After getting bit by a dog who punctured my waders, I borrowed a car (from the dog owner) and headed into town.
Unbeknownst to me, shortly before we landed, the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) had activated in my plane for no apparent reason. The alert goes straight to the US Air Force Search and Rescue, the US Coast Guard, and Flight Service. When none of them could find a flight plan on file for me, they called my emergency contacts to track me down. My dad got the call on his way to dinner in Spicer, Minnesota. Neither of my parents knew where I was besides somewhere in Alaska, so they called my Alaskan friends including: family in Anchorage, friends in Homer, a friend from Homer who answered his phone at work on a oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and a friend from Homer who answered her phone at her brand new home in Reno, Nevada. All of them called everyone they thought I might have talked to lately.
The friend on the oil rig amazingly had seen me most recently, right before he left to go back to work. He told my folks that I had been headed out to visit the Bursch family, who fishes in Bristol Bay, so my folks and the Coast Guard immediately knew to look for the Burschs. My friend on the rig also knew the number of the mechanic that had last worked on Tom Bursch's boat. Tom's number was tracked down quickly, but he was out fishing and didn't answer his phone.
My friend in Reno knew where Cate worked when she was in Homer-- the Kachemak Research Reserve. They tracked down a number for another employee, who gave them a number of another of Cate's friends, who gave them Cate's cell phone number in Bristol Bay. Not even 20 minutes after the ELT had activated, the Coast Guard called Cate and said, "Have you seen Stephanie Anderson lately?"
"Sure," Cate said, "She left here at 2:35pm, she had 55 gallons of fuel on board, and she was headed to Kings Flying Service in Naknek-- their phone number is 246-4414." After the goose chase, the USCG was surprised by the detailed information. They called Kings Flying Service and the guy that answered the phone said, "Yeah, a couple girls were here, plane's safe out back, they have my car now." He didn't even mention the dog bite.
Meanwhile, I'm wandering around Naknek and King Salmon clueless. I ran into someone from Homer and she said, "Omigosh!! you're alive!!" I was surprised by the greeting, and she said, "You need to get on the phone- NOW. Everyone is looking for you."
I called flight service and my mom. Then I decided it was time to go home. We headed back to the airport, avoided the dog, and piled in the plane. I made sure the ELT was off, and we picked up a tailwind to Homer.Since being back, I have gotten calls and messages from all over the state. People want to tell me they were really worried, and are glad that I am ok. I am embarrassed and feel bad for making people I love worry, but, it is good to know that the system works. If they people I love need to find me, they can. Mark Twain, as usual, said it best, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
