Flightseeing and a Glacier Landing (Talkeetna Air Taxi), Talkeetna Roadhouse, and Concsious Coffee

***** Not very much food in this one - some lovely photos though. I'll be back tomorrow with another post.

We headed off from our lodge at around 830 in the morning. We had scheduled a "Flightseeing Tour" with a Glacier Landing, another of the Missus's "bucket list" items. We decided to "hoof it" and first find out where the offices of Talkeetna Air Taxi was....it was an interesting walk past the train tracks. The nice folks in the office confirmed that we should report back by at least 10 or so.

What else to do but head into Talkeetna and grab something small (remember, we'd be flying) to eat and perhaps some coffee.

And while we weren't too impressed with our lunch the previous day at Talkeetna Roadhouse, we really enjoyed the bread. So we just bought some scones......the best one was the Jalapeno and Cheese scone which was savory-yeasty-slightly spicy-mildly cheesy goodness.

Talkeetna Roadhouse
13550 E Main St
Talkeetna, AK 99676

Just a few yards away stood Conscious Coffee, and rather busy coffee and crepe shack. We got a couple of Americanos; things take a while here, but you get used to that.

We had our pastries and coffee on the bench out front.

Conscious Coffee
13521 E Main St
Talkeetna, AK 99676

We then headed on over to Talkeetna Air Taxi where things didn't look very good; at least for the Glacier Landing. We decided to just take whatever the Alaskan weather would give us....they say it changes by the minute here. We were also quickly refunded part of our payment. We loved the staff here, they were friendly, and professional. Because of the cloud cover, we were asked to "wait and see". and we just kinda hung out until past noon. Until finally, we were given clearance.

We got on the plane....we'd most likely be doing just flightseeing....which would be fine, Alaska is so lovely.

Then there was a problem with the steering mechanism on the plane. We were picked up on the tarmac and taken to another plane. As much as we loved our previous pilot; she told us she was a mother of two and chatted with each of us before trying to taxi, she had to stick with her aircraft.

Our new pilot was quite friendly and chatty. One of the other folks on the flight is an amateur pilot and was welcomed to take a seat upfront.

And soon we were in the air.

Once you get in the air, you see Alaska, as beautiful as it is, in an even more spectacular way.

I really don't recall the names off all the places; I was just in awe of the majesty and pure beauty of the Alaskan Range.

I do remember a few things....this is the Kalhitna Glacier.

We actually saw folks hiking down from the Denali on the glacier. It was so amazing and humbling.

As you can see; we were lucky; the weather had cleared up, and we were cleared to land on the Pika Glacier. Here's an awesome post on hiking the glacier. The pilot was so skilled; we touched down so gently......and then, we were on the Pika Glacier.

We were told to not wander too far from the place. There were areas where the snow was soft and we'd easily sink up to our knees. My goodness, here we were......another moment for the books. And then it started snowing!

There such an amazing feeling of awe and yet peacefulness.....things are very quiet except for the wind blowing past you.

 And here's the photo I want on my tombstone.

One of the guys at work saw this photo and did this.....it cracked me up.....

You gotta love it......

The Missus; who first rode on one of these smaller aircraft for the first time just a few years ago, had a blast....I guess after the Nazca Lines; this was a piece of cake.

Our take-off was just as smooth as landing. When we got back to the Talkeetna Air Taxi Office, we offered to pay back what we were refunded; but they basically told us, "no worries, we hope you enjoyed yourself".

Enjoyed ourselves? Are you kidding?

I often go back and look at these and many other photos from our trip to Alaska. The size and scale of things is amazing, the stark beauty took my breath away. It's an humbling experience.

It may have been another item off the bucket list for the Missus, but it's something I treasure and will never forget.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Soo]

Wow! Awesome views! I wish it would snow here. How was it taking photos through the window? I took a no doors helicopter tour of Kauai and I got some great photos. It looks like it would be too cold to do that in Alaska.
http://www.hungryones.com/2017/09/jack-harter-helicopter-tour-kauai/

[caninecologne]

Thank you for sharing your amazing experience!

[kat]

beautiful scenery!

[Kirk]

A lot of the photos are from the window Soo. There are helicopter flightseeing trips.

Thanks for reading CC!

It was stunning Kat!

[Junichi]

Stunning views! Walking on a glacier must've been magical.

[Kirk]

It was amazing Junichi!