K2 Flight and the Train to Fairbanks

We were heading to Fairbanks this afternoon but had the morning free. I checked it out and after a few tries was able to find a flight around Denali Mountain before our train left so I jumped on board.


Because of the weight distribution required I was able to ride shotgun, the pilot asked if I knew how to fly just in case something happened to him. The lady behind me looked worried and did not seem to get the joke so I replied with a confident “Yes”. Then to put the worry back in her mind I asked, after sitting down but before he stared the engine, “Of the two pedals on the floor which is the gas and which is the brake?”


We took off and headed in the general direction toward K2.


We first viewed the peak before diving down underneath the clouds.


We were amazingly close to the side of the mountain.






We then flew over one of the many glaciers around the base of the mountain.




Just as we had the landing strip in sight the lady who was worried apparently wanted to lose some weight, so she threw up her lunch, fortunately getting it all in the vomit bag.


Even thought it was cloudy it was still an amazing flight, and I got back in time to catch the train, meeting Kim and Riley at the station. The train was again relaxing and beautiful, however I think the section from Anchorage to Seward was more senic.






Once we got to Fairbanks we tried to collect our luggage, only recovering two out of the three bags, it turned out the hotel forgot to bring one of them to the train station. They were very sorry and drove it up the following day, now that’s customer service, I figured they would have taken the easier route and just sent it back to Seattle. We checked in to the River’s Edge hotel, which were cute little cabins on the river. We ate at their restaurant, which was a nice outdoor patio on the river, and then went to bed. This was as far north as we were going and it never even got dim here, staying light all the time. In fact even the special shades could not keep all the light out as 2am looked just like 2pm.



VIDEO: Flight to K2