August 1, 2024 - Alaska Flight
Day 4C - Burwash to Northway, Alaska
Kluane Lake peters out to the north.
   
While the highway heads off to the northwest.
   
Passing over the Kluane River.
   
Looking west.
   
 
   
The highway follows the Kluane River for a bit.
   
I have some time to kill for my CBP appointment so I might as well go down low and have some fun.
   
Rolling in hot!
   
Looking for griz.
   
 
   
I'm being shadowed!
   
The highway bends off to the northwest so I have to leave the river.
   
Goodbye Kluane River !  You know, there are a lot of rivers in British Columbia and the Yukon!  Lakes too.
   
Heading northwest through a valley.
   
 
   
Another airplane!  He popped up on ADS-B.
   
Approaching another big river: the Donjek.
   
Highway rest area.
   
A bridge crosses the Donjek River.
   
Continuing up the valley.
   
 
   
Pretty snow-covered mountains in the distance.
   
I come across an area of little lakes and ponds.
   
I have time to kill so I go down for a closer look.
   
Pretty meadows and marsh.
   
I'm still close to the highway.
   
Tall mountain ahead.
   

Passing by a little community that never happened and was abandoned.

Soon after this, I flew over Discovery Yukon Lodgings which has what looks like its own turf airstrip but I somehow missed seeing it.  It wasn't on the chart.  It would be a good place to land and stop for the night.
   
The White River runs to the north.  I have to kill about 15 minutes so I decide to fly low up the river for awhile.
   
Here we go.
   
 
   
 
   
Fun.
   
Make the turn to fly back down the river to the Highway.
   
The change in direction gives the White River a different perspective.
   
 
   
No wildlife sightings though.
   
And back on the highway.
   
That's the White River in the distance;  I could have cut the corner coming back I guess.  But saving time was not a good thing, for once.
   
Heading almost north.
   
 
   
Lots of little lakes in this region.
   
Some sort of red vegetation predominates here.
   
I have no idea what this is.
   
The town of Beaver Creek.
   

Looking down at Beaver Creek Airstrip.  It has a mandatory frequency but since I'm not landing I don't talk to Beaver Creek Radio.  What that wrong?  I'll never know.

Three miles due west is the Alaska/Canada border.
   
A close-up of the airstrip.  No services other than the radio station.  The Canadian border crossing station is at lower right.
   
In continue following the highway north.
   
A few miles later I see the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Alcan Port of Entry station.  At the time I thought it was a Highway Lodge.   This station is a hundred yards or so pass the border so I am now in Alaska!
   
Now this is a highway lodge -- the Old Border City lodge.  But it is currently closed.
   
This picture illustrates how geography drove where they built the highway.  The highway runs northwest at the base of that hill ridge.  The area to the southwest is muskeg country -- lots of water thanks to the Chisana River and lots of little lakes.  Obviously they didn't want to go through the muskeg so they put the highway near the hill on dry land.
   
I was now headed direct to Northway, to the southwest of the highway.
   
A float plane skims by down low, that white dot at the center of the picture.
   
Northway Airport dead ahead.  This is where I will clear customs.
   
Northway has a Flight Service Station which gives me weather and traffic advisories.
   
Northway is about five miles southwest of the Alcan Highway -- a road connects.
 
There are no services at Northway.  There is a Flight Service Station on the grounds somewhere.
   
The Nabesna River runs on the west side of the river.  I took this picture on the base leg for landing.
   

Still on base leg.  Below is the road that goes to the Alcan Highway.  At lower left, it also connects to little Northway Village, on the Nabesna River.

I had filed my eAPIS form a couple of days ago, indicating I would land and clear customs at Northway.  It was unclear to me whether CBP was clearing pilots at Northway or not, but I figured I might as well ask for it.  The alternative was clearing at Fairbanks or Anchorage Ted Stephens.  (They will let you stop for gas at Tok beforehand, though.)  There was no way I was going into the complicated airspace at Anchorage, so I was prepared to go to Fairbanks.   At first my eAPIS request was rejected via email.  I called CBP Alaska at 9am (their time) this morning and talked to a friendly CBP officer about it.  We basically negotiated a landing time at Northway acceptable to both parties:  2:15pm.  I was very happy I did not have to go to Fairbanks.  I did receive another email saying my eAPIS request was approved.
   

I didn't know what to expect on the ground.  Imagine my surprise when I saw another RV sitting on the big ramp.  I had seen a RV take off at Whitehorse; this must be the one.  Close by the RV was a CBP vehicle.  So I parked next to the other RV  -- an RV-9.  I arrived at 2:10, five minutes early.   Northway Radio closed out my flight plan.

I stayed in the plane.  The CBP officer got out of his SUV and walked over.  Asked to see my passport, looked for the CBP sticker, and asked the usual questions:  any firearms, cannibis, cash over $10,000?  Nope, nope, nope.  I'm guessing the officer was happy that I was on time and he didn't have to sit in his SUV and wait for me.  And that was about it -- I was good to go.
   
The CBP officer drove away, back to the border crossing facility, about an hour's drive.
 
I went over to talk to the RV pilot.  His name was David.  He was with his daughter and they were coming back from Oshkosh!  He is based down in the Anchorage area but was going to go over to Tok, get fuel and have lunch.  I asked him if I could join him and he said sure.
   
SPOT track from Whitehorse to Northway.
   
 
   
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