Dutch to Umnak by Plane

 

From my trip to Unalaska February 2016

The morning of my second glorious day in Dutch began just before dawn at the Grant terminal where I met my friend and pilot Chad who had a scheduled flight to Nikolski on Umnak Island at 10:00 am. We quickly grabbed bags bound for Nikolski and loaded into the King Air. Besides cargo, the flight was empty both directions which allowed for a little scenic flight seeing

Back taxing for departure.

We departed Dutch Harbor heading south climbing over the rolling hills till we dropped down and found the jagged cliffs of the coast and the sun rise.

The sunrise reflecting off of rain squalls made for dramatic scenery but hid the massive volcanic crater and two volcanoes on Umnak Island.

Once we reached Umnak we could see Fort Glen known in the area for its herd of cattle.

On short final for Nikolski

How’s this for a welcome to Nikolski?

Cows in the distance and this old plane met us at the airport.

One thing that Grant pilots have in common is that wherever they go they are usually greeted with a warm welcome. Landing in Nikolski we were greeted by over half of the towns 18 residents and left with some homemade beef jerky from local cows. Yum!

Time to head back to Dutch Harbor and enjoy more spectacular scenery along the way.

We didn’t get to see any volcanoes, but we definitely smelt them. At first I didn’t want to say anything thinking that maybe my pilot had an affinity for bad smells like my husband. Fortunately chad pointed out the the sulfurous smell and our proximity to a volcano even though we couldn’t see it.

The grand finale view.

My amazing pilot who gave me a first class tour of the Aleutian Islands.

Back to Dutch and its only 1130! Check out the rest of my day in Dutch Harbor in my blog post Sun & Fun in Dutch Harbor!