Alaskan Ice Cave Fever

Alaskan Ice Cave Fever

By Patty Smith

One of my very favorite things to do in the summers here in Alaska is to fly with my husband to an off-airport, 900-foot backcountry treasure called Mud Strip. A perfect paradise, the strip is tucked between the Knik and Colony glaciers and provides easy access to Inner Lake George. There is a short trail right off of the strip that leads up a hill, through the trees, and onto Lake George’s shoreline. Its waters are decorated with huge floating chunks of bright blue glacier ice, and to add to the awesomeness, there is often a purposefully abandoned canoe somewhere in sight, hinting that you have options to explore just a little bit more if you choose to.

Mud Strip is a very popular place for Alaskan bush pilots to gather for a weekend camping trip, a short hike with fellow pilots, or just because. Most of us don’t really need a reason to fly there. I personally enjoy finding a nice place to sit with my husband and watch Colony Glacier calv from the shoreline. Calv is slang for “calving,” which refers to the breakage and movement of the glacier as it sends a little bit more of itself into the lake on its journey of inches or feet in any direction. The pieces that crash into the lake can be the size of a car, or a 10-story building. Not often, there is a winter where a special chunk of Colony Glacier breaks loose that holds a cave. It floats into the lake, and as we enter the long winter months it gets frozen in place. This was one of those winters.

Photo by Patty Smith / A&P Fly Photography

We now have a new aviation destination to add to the winter favorites list. A scenic flight over Knik Glacier and into the same area, but when the conditions are right it’s a lake landing we are looking forward to. A lake landing with access to walk into an ice cave the size of a three-story building. A phenomenal work of natural art created by the path of the melted mountain snow and occasional rainfall, slowly carving its way down to the lake year after year before finally breaking away from Colony Glacier to float its way into social media forever.

The social media part of it started with a couple of posts on Facebook that we shared with a local group of pilots called Flyout Alaska. By now, just about everyone we know in aviation in the area has been out there at least once. The major glacier tour flight services have even added a landing into their packages. They all line up to take photos of their planes in front of the cave with family members, friends, and beloved pets to share with the world.           

We originally found the area with another couple in the group, Cory and Tammy Kittle, in early February, and departed out of Birchwood Airport (PABV) in Chugiak, Alaska, for just another one of our “typical” backcountry adventures.

Photo by Patty Smith / A&P Fly Photography

My husband, Andy, EAA 1085939, and I are quite the Alaskan couple! He’s a firefighter/EMT for the Anchorage Fire Department and a recreational pilot (working on his commercial), and I am a professional photographer. Together, we own and operate A&P Fly Photography. We have five children, a German shepherd who loves to fly, and a lot of toys to take us places. Andy flies a 1957 orange and white Piper Pacer with Stewart wing tips, vortex generators, and 26-inch tundra tires.

Photo by Patty Smith / A&P Fly Photography

The Kittles are also a fun couple. Cory is the marketing manager for Airframes Alaska and Alaskan Bushwheels, a commercial pilot, and a published professional photographer. They love to hunt, explore, and fly all over Alaska in their beautiful red and white 1978 Piper Super Cub, currently on a set of UL 3000 skis. Cory is also a mentor of mine in the photography world, and I have learned a lot from him.

Our plan was to meet up and scout out a place for a lake landing. This year has been special because there has not been a significant accumulation of snow on the lake that would prevent a wheel landing. In the past, it’s been hit or miss as to whether or not we could safely land.

Photo by Patty Smith / A&P Fly Photography

That particular morning there was a super thick fog line at about 200 feet that made it difficult to spot tracks anywhere on the lake where others had landed. We spent some time flying around and Andy had me scouting for any evidence of tracks, while also helping him lookout for any other air traffic. It wasn’t long before we heard Cory over the radio.

We located his plane and followed them to an area he knew was safe for us to land. Icebergs were everywhere as far as the eye could see — it was surreal. We stayed there for a bit then decided to make a move to get closer to Colony Glacier as the fog was finally starting to dissipate.

Photo by Patty Smith / A&P Fly Photography

We flew about 5 miles to the east and the ice cave revealed itself. The size of it was a lot to take in. We landed and grouped up. We were all grinning from ear to ear, like little kids on Christmas morning, marveling over nature’s artwork. There were a lot of firsts that day. As for me, it was my first time flying with Andy in the Pacer with a winter lake landing, and the first time anyone, as far as we all knew, had landed out there at all. We had so much fun and played for a few hours, slipping and sliding all around. It was definitely a day to remember and share with the world.

I hope it’s still there next year. Last week it finally started to warm up, and I’m sad to say that the ice cave is now closed. We are all looking forward to many more adventures at Inner Lake George in the future.

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