Smithers

Whew! It was a long day in the plane today. After breakfast, we checked out and caught a ride to the airport. It was cold and raining again so we loaded up the plane and did the preflight in record time. We took off into overcast skies in a light rain and followed Resurrection Bay south toward the ocean to stay clear of the nearby mountains during our climb. We picked up our IFR clearance and climbed into the clouds as we turned southeast toward Yakutat. We got a little ice on the way up, but after we leveled off, there was no more accumulation. For the next two hours, we didn’t see anything but the inside of the clouds. We flew the ILS instrument approach at Yakutat, landed, and taxied up to the now familiar self-serve fuel pump.

Our family is becoming a well-oiled machine at these fuel stops. Michele and Sandy took the kids inside and ordered lunch while Roland and I pumped the fuel. We could only pump 80 gallons at a time, so I had to use 3 credit cards to get 200 gallons --what a pain! By the time we got inside, lunch was on the table. After lunch I snapped a few pictures this time before we got back in and blasted off.

You may recall, I was planning to fly directly from Yakutat to Smithers. However, when I called Canadian Customs to notify them of our intended arrival, they informed me that Smithers is not an International Airport and that we’d have to land somewhere else first. Prince Rupert is along the coast line just about 60 miles West of Smithers, so we decided on that.

The weather improved as we headed south and pretty soon we were cruising in the sunshine above a solid layer of clouds. About 3 hours later, we flew another ILS approach into Prince Rupert and taxied up to the terminal. Since we were not greeted by a Customs agent, I called and they said we were cleared. I have to admit, I was a little irritated that they didn’t show up this time. Couldn’t I have just called them from Smithers?

Since we were there, I decided to take on some fuel and give the kids a chance to stretch their legs. Roland and I walked into the terminal and immediately realized we had gone through a one way door into an international arrivals / departure lobby. The door locked behind us with no way to get back out onto the ramp. The only other exit had a huge line of people waiting to pass through security and neither one of us brought our passports inside. After using the restrooms, we came back to the door just as Michele was about to come in. Luckily, we were able to sneak back out when she opened it up and warn her about the one-way door.

After hunting around a while and knocking on doors, I finally found someone there to sell us some fuel. We studied the conversion charts and finally determined that I wanted 600 liters. It was nice relaxing while someone else did the fueling for a change. Afterwards, I followed him back into the office to pay. When I came out, Roland informed me that Brandon was stuck inside the one way door and that security would not allow him to open it. Brandon was being detained in Canada!

Luckily, I had tipped the fuel guy and he was happy to go inside and retrieve Brandon for us. Soon, we were back on board and ready to go again. It took about 15 minutes for me to radio in my flight plan (no cell service in Prince Rupert) and receive my clearance. Finally, we were cleared for takeoff. Smithers lay about 60 miles to the east, but I had to fly west for about 20 miles to gain enough altitude to get over the mountains. We got turned around the right way and then had to fly yet another instrument approach into Smithers, arriving about 9pm local time.

I called the hotel and they came to pick us up. We got a late dinner (10pm) and now we’ve got to get these kids settled down for bed. Tomorrow, we have about a 3 hour flight into Golden, Canada and then a 1 hour car ride up into the mountains to our hotel at Lake Louise.