------------JLFEXPLORER----------: Tsiu River

There are lots of sport fishermen who fly out to the Tsiu River every September for the Coho run. I was lucky last year to hitch a ride out with Hans in his Otter. This year I happened to meet the pilot of this Super DC-3, Robert, and he offered to let me ride along on one of his runs. They were hauling big totes of fish from the Tsiu, back to Yakutat, then, the fishermen ship it home, or the commercial fishermen sell it to Yakutat Seafoods.

It just happened to be a perfect, bluebird day. Just like last year. I was excited to ride in this plane. They were built for the military back in the 40's and over 400 are still in use today. Robert knew everything about them, and was actually a mechanic/maintenance person for the company. It was really interesting learning about the history of the planes, and of course, riding along as he flew!

I never know what I will end up doing out here. You just happen to meet the right person, and the next day you're flying to the Tsiu in this bad boy!

Beautiful mountains along the coast. Just East of Icy Bay.

We passed Hans in the Otter on the way.

Mt. St. Elias and the Libbey/Agassiz Glaciers in the background.

It was a super smooth ride along the coast.

Approaching the Tsiu.

The fish totes. From Yakutat full of Ice, To Yakutat full of fish.

Touchdown on the beach in some of the most pristine wilderness on Earth!

Hans arrived shortly after.

This is a sight to see in such a remote and beautiful place.

Darin loads the totes into the planes with a Bobcat.

Hans is loaded and on his way back to Yakutat in the Otter. The Otter has lots of power, quick take-offs, and is considered the best bush plane by some pilots.

Such a beautiful place

Brown Bear tracks along the river

After a few hours of just hiking around, I saw the DC-3 coming back into view.

Robert did a quick fly-by, so I could get some good photos.

It was a perfect day for me, but the weather gets rough here quite often. Gary, and the guys who load the fish told me they had a storm with 100+ mph winds just a few weeks before. They spend several weeks there, staying in a small hut, and working each day the weather allows the fishermen in. There were many rainy days lately, so they were certainly taking advantage of a day like this.