Bettles: Day 2 (09-04-2023)

 

Who knows what will happen today?  Today's original schedule has us on a boat ride to the Old Bettles townsite. The boat ride is canceled because the Koyukuk River is too high. This sign has been in the Bettle's Lodge lounge since we arrived:

Breakfast is a repeat of yesterday (2 eggs any style, choice of meat (bacon, sausage, reindeer sausage), hash browns and choice of toast or pancake) which is OK because it is a consistently good meal.  Pilot Stuart comes in to say the park tour will not leave at 9:00. He will update at 11:00.  I ask him if there are any empty seats.  There is one seat available.  Women from the group that flew Saturday say they squeezed in an additional person.  I ask about that possibility and get a firm no.  He says it is a safety issue.  I totally get that; in fact when the women told me about the extra person I was surprised that he allowed it.  It makes me wonder if something happened on that trip that is causing him to be strict. 

BB goes to the room to read.  I wander around aimlessly. The tour doesn't leave at 11:00. Pamela, Allen and Braden are ready to depart and waiting for the plane to arrive.  When it arrives and is ready to take off I walk with them to the airplane and wave goodbye.

They are on this plane.  I see at least one of them waving back to me.

Bettles Lodge has a dog yard.  Eric said it was OK for us to visit but to ask a staff person to go with us.  Logan, who has been doing a great job keeping things clean and neat at Aurora Lodge, goes by me as I wave goodbye to the plane.  He takes me to the dog yard and introduces me to the dogs.

Noon means lunch.  Today it is ham and cheese sandwiches with french fries. Stuart sounds slightly optimistic about a 2:00pm short flight to Gates of the Arctic.  BB encourages me to go.  Neither of us is happy that there is only one seat.

While talking with worker-who-is-waiting we overhear one of the guests ask employee Seth about visiting the dog yard.  I can't visit too many dogs and BB is interested so we tag along.  Worker-who-is-waiting comes too.

Stuart says a short tour to the Gates of the Arctic NP leaves from Bettles Lodge at 2:30. With heavy heart I leave BB behind.  

The dock is underwater because of all the rain and because of a beaver issue.  Eric says the beavers dammed the lake outlet.  I look for a beaver lodge but don't see one.

My fellow passengers.

I get the co-pilot's seat.

Our flight is about two hours long and takes us in and out of Gates of the Arctic NP.  We don't see any rugged, dramatic mountains. We see low mountains and fall color.  We fly over Bettles, the Dalton Highway and the Trans Alaska Pipeline.  We see moose and rainbows. We land on Florence Creek Lake, which allows us to say we touched ground in the park.

Bettles from the air.

Pipeline and Dalton Highway.

Moose near Florence Creek Lake.

Just scenery....a lot of vast open space!

I am back in the room by 4:30. I tell BB about the trip.  She spent the time reading.  

Dinner is pork loin, roasted potatoes and mixed veggies with tropical fruit cobbler and ice cream for dessert.  After dinner BB and I play Scrabble.  And a great game it is!  We use ALL of the tiles.  None are left in the bag and none are left on our racks.  

A weird day.

Sal