Epic Alaska Adventure - Spring 2024

Leg 15 - 6/10/2024 - Talkeetna, AK (PATK) to Tok Junction, AK (PFTO)

Leg Stats

• Time Enroute: 2.3 hrs
• Distance (direct): 206nm
• Distance (actual): 311nm
• Fuel Used: 23.6 gal

After an evening in the tent with no darkness (we slept fitfully, and it was quite cold!), we woke up early in the morning to decide on our plan for the day.

I had been eyeing the long range weather forecasts for inland Alaska and I decided that we had two choices: try to leave Alaska and start back down the Alcan today, or stay for at least another week. We both were ready to start the (very long!) voyage home, and the weather was passable, if not great, however it would be deteriorating slightly in the afternoon, so we needed to get going.

I planned that we would fly back down the Alcan just as we had come up, from Whitehorse, but we would get to Whitehorse via the more traditional Alcan route, over Northway and Tok Junction. Unfortunately, the more direct route via Gulkana was likely to be clouded in that morning, and the WX Cameras confirmed that fact. Nonetheless, the weather north towards Fairbanks through the mountains near Cantwell looked clear on the cameras, and the weather in Talkeetna was light rain with a high overcast.

We packed up our camping gear in the rain, and had some breakfast in the drizzly weather.

After breakfast we made the 20 minute walk with all of our stuff to the airport.

We loaded up, filed our VFR flight plan, and departed under cloudy skies.

Although Denali would not be making any appearances through the clouds that morning, fortunately the views were still pretty cool.

As the cameras had hinted, the weather through the mountains was no problem, and I knew that once on the northern slope towards Fairbanks, we would have no more weather issues.

As it turned out, however, some wildfires were burning in the are just north of the mountains near Fairbanks.

The wind was blowing the smoke in the direction we were traveling, so the visibility between Delta Junction and Tok was very poor at times.

Fortunately, as the METARs had indicated, it let up considerably nearing Tok, and we landed with no trouble and light winds on the fairly short runway.

Tok is little more than a milemarker on the Alcan Highway (although they do have 100LL!), so we hadn't intended to stay here, but rather continue on to Whitehorse.

We walked about half a mile to Fast Eddie's Pizza and ordered pizza to eat at the airplane while I made the necessary arrangements with Canadian and US Customs.

Leg Photos

Trip Leg Navigation