Eruption Near Mount McKinley - Alaska, USA

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Eruption Near Mount McKinley
Alaska, USA

Part of our Alaskan adventure was a small plane ride around Mount McKinley. We hoped that the weather would cooperate and it did. The day of our flight was warm with a few clouds in the air. The view of the mountain from the ground was spectacular. I couldn't wait to get up close and personal. Our flight was scheduled for 4:00 pm and we had quite a drive. We were to leave for the airport after lunch.

While I was looking forward to the plane ride with great anticipation, Lynda was looking forward to it with great apprehension. In fact, with so much apprehension, she dilly-dallied around long enough that we did not have time for lunch. This irritated me a great deal because, you see, I never like to miss a meal. However, as it turned out, everyone in the plane, especially Lynda, appreciated the fact that we did not have lunch before the flight.

As I mentioned, Lynda was a bit apprehensive about the entire excursion. She had been in a small aircraft one other time and she didn't really enjoy that. So when we finally got to the airport in Talkeetna and checked in, the young lady behind the counter said with some concern:

"You two are the only ones booked on that flight."

"So that means we are not going?" Lynda asked hopefully.

"No," she said. "But my boss likes me to make sure the flights are as full as possible."

View of the Mountain from the air

Then she proceeded to give us a sales pitch on a more extensive tour of the mountain. The trip that we booked it turns out was a short flight around the base of Mount McKinley. We would get within six miles of the mountain. But the super duper tour took us to the summit of the mountain (over 20,000 feet) and around the mountain, through the ice fields and glaciers. The flight would take ninety minutes. The girl behind the counter was very convincing. She casually mentioned that because we would be going so high we would have to use oxygen for part of the flight. But it would be worth it because we would get very close to the mountain and the weather was perfect. This was a rare opportunity.

"Oxygen?" Lynda asked incredulously.

"Yes," the counter girl confirmed. "And it costs a little more but you won't be sorry."

"Sold!" I said with distinct insensitivity to Lynda's fear. Now, I am not completely insensitive. I patted her on the shoulder, reassured her that she would be fine and said, "Let's go."

As we approached the twin engine, nine-passenger plane, Pilot Ed greeted us. Ed was kind of a salty guy. He was about sixty years old with leathered skin but he was a pleasant gray-haired fellow. I mentioned to Lynda that it was good to have a pilot with gray hair. It usually meant that he had a lot of successful experience.

"Lynda," I said. "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."

She was neither amused nor comforted.

Ed went through the emergency procedures. He explained where the survival suits and sleeping bags were and once again mentioned the oxygen. He said that at about 12,000 feet he would ask us to put on our oxygen masks. This didn't comfort Lynda either.

We climbed aboard with three other passengers and taxied to the runway. Just before takeoff Ed filed his flight plan and mentioned to the tower that there were six souls aboard. Not a great choice of words at this time, I thought. We were taking off and Lynda was terrified.

The view was spectacular and I couldn't get enough. But Lynda was staring straight ahead, at the back of Ed's head. Ed said if the maneuvers were too much, to let him know and he would back off. Soon we were at 12,000 feet, on our way to 22,000 feet and Ed asked us to don our oxygen masks. I quickly put mine on but noticed that Lynda was having tremendous difficulty. I helped her on with her mask so that she could continue staring at Ed's head.

Lynda Looks Straight Ahead

I took many photos while Ed flew around several mountains and ice fields. We circled around several camps of mountain climbers. We saw another plane take off from a glacier. I saw colors of blue and white that I had never seen before. The size of everything is breathtaking. The views were indescribable. And that is why Lynda will never know what she missed. By this time she was not only terrified, she was getting airsick. Somewhere between the summit of Mount McKinley and the Ruth Glacier, Lynda tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the seat pocket in front of her. I instantly knew the problem and quickly retrieved a barf bag for her.

Although Mount McKinley is not a volcanic mountain, for the next several minutes there were several eruptions at about 20,000 feet. Pilot Ed had no idea what was going on just behind him. Like a trooper, instead of bailing out of the plane, Lynda quietly vomited much of the way back to Talkeetna.

Once we landed, Ed said that he hoped that we had fun and that nobody got sick. Just at that time he turned around and saw Lynda holding her used bags. He instructed us to leave our oxygen masks on the seat but to take the used barf bags with us.

Lynda did survive, but with some difficulty. She missed some unbelievable scenery. We found out that she does have a skill that I greatly admire. She vomits neatly. We were both thankful that we missed lunch that day.

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