Flying in the Fraser Valley

Today was a special day for Nya as it was her first flight with my dad! It was very last minute so I wasn't sure how she would feel when I picked her up from school and told her we were going flying. She was so excited! It may have had something to do with the fact that I said we were going to a fancy restaurant and she asked if she could use her fancy voice. Yes, she could use her fancy voice.

We met my dad at the Langley airport and off we went!

Run For The Cure 2014

May our children never have to run in memory of us.  Look at all these little ones my mom was never able to meet (besides Ani).  It's sad, but at the same time, her legacy lives on as she was an awesome mother and some of that rubbed off on us all.

{The picture above was taken by the Abby News which we saw on their facebook site! Super dad!  I promise I was there, I'm just behind the lady with the pink hat :)}

Kai Bear ran the whole 5 km and finished in 33 minutes.  Koen ran about 2 km of it and jumped in the stroller with Nya for the rest (Gary pushed them and finished well ahead of Kai and I).  I finished about 30 seconds after Kai. 

{The picture above is from my sister Jackie.  I'm red faced and cheering but I love that I'm finishing  the race with my daughter; Nya Greta, named after my mom}   

We finished the run by celebrating Thanksgiving with my side of the family.  The kids are at an awesome age for it which means that the adults can get a bit more conversation in.

And then....Kai Bear got to fly from Chilliwack back to Langley with Opi, Ani and Izzy!  Apparently Kai asked Opi to do a barrel roll and he `pretty much did half of one'.  Not sure about that :) 

Thanks for hosting Thanksgiving lunch, Nana Jo.  Thanks for being a fun grandpa, Opa Jack! 

Although I no longer have my mom (and greatest cheerleader), I do have a giant team behind and around me.

Love,

Louise

Exploring Canada From the Sky: Circumnavigating Canada

Jack Dekens is a 60 year old retired father of 5 (girls!) with a heart for adventure. In July of 2014 he circumnavigated Canada solo in his Cessna 172 covering 16,300 km in about 30 days. He is a man who loves a good adventure and is not afraid to dream big and just go for it. He is also my father. Here is an interview that I had with him.

{Between Cambridge Bay and Resolute Bay}

Why did you decide to fly around Canada?

There are three reasons really. As a kid, I loved learning about the history of the Northwest Passage and the Franklin Expedition so I wanted to see it in person. Secondly,  I love adventure. It started with a 13' Zodiac trip around Vancouver Island in 1990 and then in 2010 I took a jet ski from Vancouver to Skagway, Alaska solo. I enjoyed it so much I ended by circumnavigating Vancouver Island which was about 4300 km total. The third reason is that I wanted to see if it would be possible to eventually use a jet ski to do the Northwest Passage so I would first do it from the sky.

{You can see the route he took clockwise around Canada starting in Vancouver}

What sort of preparation did you need?

There were many different steps that needed to be taken to prepare for a trip like this. First, I had to get my private pilot's license through Principal Air. Their inclusion of grass and gravel landing strips was invaluable. Then, once I knew the trip up north was in the plans I had to take `over the top training' which is above the clouds, instrument and night training. I also did underwater egress training at the pool because I would have to fly above a large body of water. Due to the polar bears up north, a friend who had already lost a researcher friend,  insisted I accept his gift of a 12 gauge Defender shotgun. Therefore, I had to get my hunting and gun safety license.

{Masset, Haidi Gwaii}

When I bought my plane I had to find one that had a long range tank. There is no aviation gas for non turbine planes in the arctic circle which is a huge area.  With help from others, including Kenn Borek Air,  I made a connection to a private stash in Resolute Bay. I also had to order a special funnel to remove impurities and plan to have oil sent up to Iqaluit. The plane needed some updates on it to make it safe for a trip like this. I had a new factory motor, propeller and batteries put in. A new exhaust system increased power and cruise range. I upgraded my electrical system to facilitate running the iPhone, iPad, and charge the cameras. 

My wife, Joanne, made bright yellow wing covers for the low temperatures up north. This colour would also be easier for Search and Rescue to find me in the event that I was forced down.

{Pond Inlet}

I had to call each airport that was supposed to have gas available and confirmed that with them. I ordered maps to work alongside my ForeFlight program and rented a satellite phone (a necessity along with my SPOT device) for filing flight plans as the arctic is a military zone.  

Finally, I needed to decide what to take along. The plane had to be as light as possible so I removed all of the seats except for one. I had five Jerry cans of gas, two sheepskin rugs (for comfort during the flights and then to sleep on at night), freeze dried food, canned fish and a stove.  Instead of a sleeping bag, I just brought a very warm down jacket.  By the way, freeze dried breakfasts are better than the dinners.

What are a few of the most interesting things you learned along the way?

I learned about the Canadian Rangers program which is part of the Canadian Armed Forces and is a volunteer force made up of Inuit, First Nations and Metis. They work as Search and Rescue and are very proud of what they do including teaching the Armed Forces personal survival and stealth skills, and in turn, the Armed Forces provide them with weapons and electronics like GPS's.  

The term `Flow Edge' now conjures up images of narwhals, seals, and bears rather than just a bit of water between the shore and the ice.

I found it interesting that the government invested a lot of money to install an underground water line up in Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, for it to just freeze the first winter. Water and septic are delivered by truck weekly and also removed the same way (separate trucks!). Nothing underground. 

{Pond Inlet}

I realized that the aviation world is small,  not only up north, but throughout Canada.  They all know and help each other. Borek Air and Nunavut Air engineers assisted with information and helping to 'dress up' the propeller which was pitted by the 20 or more gravel runways. Pilots invited me into their homes. Airport managers in Nova Scotia knew my aviation friends back home from their days of early arctic aviation's Bradley Airlines. The stories flowed.

Finally, I was very surprised to see that new cell phones don't work up north. No 3G or LTE. The compass does swing wildly the further north you go so reliance on GPS becomes the primary navigational tool.

{Cumberland Sound near Baffin Island}

What was the scariest moment?

There were a few moments that made me nervous. First, I had a notification that they ran out of fuel in Frobisher Bay. It was my next stop and I needed to top up all of my tanks there in order to make it to Quebec. I didn't want to wait several weeks for the ice breakers to bring in the gas. I ordered a barrel of gas ($1300!) to be flown in. Once I arrived, I found out that the regular fueler, whom I had been speaking with prior to my starting my trip, had set one tank aside for me. I didn't need to pay for that expensive barrel of fuel and it was just $350.00 instead.

{Resolute Bay where the Franklin Expedition spent their winter}

Another moment, gas related, was that I had punched in the wrong airport code before taking off and so my GPS showed that I was heading in the wrong direction. You can't waste gas going in the wrong direction so I'm glad I figured it out relatively fast.

Weather is obviously a big concern up there and as I was coming into Resolute Bay, and past the point of no return (not enough gas to return!), I was notified that the weather deteriorated and the cloud dropped to 400 feet. It was recommended not to land but I had no choice. I had to land using technical skills and not on sight as it was almost all white (the clouds and ice).

{Cambridge Bay}

What would you do differently if you did it over again?

If I did it again, I would plan to have more fuel caches up north so that I could do a little bit more exploring. Once I was up in Resolute Bay there were many recommendations of where to go which included further north.  

Also, some smaller changes would be; go in August as it's warmer, bring an older cell phone, try out the opposite direction, use a shelf rather than a hammock to store things in the back of the plane, and find something other than Garmin for tracking. 

{Northern BC area}

What was your favourite place?

I can't choose one but I especially loved; Northwestern BC (Atlin),  Whitehorse, Alaska, Pond Inlet/Baffin Island and the Maritimes. I sure love Canada and we are so blessed.

{West coast of BC}

How much does someone spend on gas for a trip like this?

About $6,000.

What is next for you?

I would like to volunteer for Hope Air. They provide flights to those in tough financial situations in order to get the health care they need. Another organization would be Angel Flight. They provide free of charge transportation for cancer patients in areas from Port McNeil to Hope, B.C.  If anyone needs a break from cancer treatment, let me know. Nothing takes your mind off of reality like a flight through the mountains.

Other thoughts include snowmobiling from Cambridge Bay near where Franklin's Ships are to Resolute and Iqaluit. Or, maybe a trip around South America. Or...I just want to remain healthy enough to continue to fly. If anyone has any other ideas, I look forward to hearing them.

And now, after all of those miles, gravel strip landings, fuel burn calculations and flight plan filings, maybe my kids will fly with me! I want them to see what I saw and maybe catch the flying bug.

What advice would you give to others?

Dream. Plan. Plan some more. Ask around.  Listen. Do it. We're not getting any younger or healthier with age. Just make sure that you don't put anyone else at an unnecessary risk like Search and Rescue having to go get you.

{Atlin, BC}

If anyone is interested, Jack is preparing a Power Point presentation for ground school classes and any other interested groups. You can also see some blog posts from his trip here. You can also reach him at cessnajack@gmail.com.  I should mention that I have finally flown with him and although I felt safe, I definitely did not catch that flying bug. For now, keep dreaming and doing! 

Flying With My Dad

On Sunday I went flying with my dad.  I refused up until this point because I was afraid of heights and his plane is a bit....old.  After riding along with Brent Handy in a Pitts S-2B (highlight of my summer!), I realized I could do it.

My dad flew into the Langley Airport, from Chilliwack, and picked me up.  We went over a few safety items, like how to open the door in an emergency, and then off we went!

I like that it wasn't as high as I thought it would be.  It was a gorgeous day but this also meant it was a tad bit stuffy in the plane.

Mt. Baker above and the Westminster Abbey below.

We flew to the Sandpiper Golf Course to eat at the River's Edge Restuarant.  You see that gravel strip along the water? That's their landing strip!  Pretty wild to land right next to all of the golfers.

It takes about 20 minutes from the Langley Airport to fly to the Sandpiper Golf Course in Harrison.  Not bad!  We each had a salmon dinner.  I also interviewed my dad about his trip around Canada because I'm writing a piece on it.

Then it was back in the plane (Cessna 172) to head home!

We went to check out Harrison Hot Springs on the way back.   The five minute flight there from the Sandpiper is right between the mountains so it was a bit more bumpy than I'd like. We also had to fly above the electrical wires that cross between the mountains.

We love Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa and go once a year.

I think it's fun to fly with a purpose like going out to eat.  I'm not sure I would go up just to fly around.  Thanks, dad! I had a great time.   

Love,
Louise

PS The corn mazes looked really cool from the sky AND Sumas Mountain is way bigger than I thought!

Kelly-as per your comment, here's a picture of The Chilliwack Corn Maze!

Father's Day Hike

First off, a Happy Father's Day to my dad who is currently in Pond Inlet in Nunavet.  He has the heart of an adventurer and I appreciate his `go for it' attitude.  He is sleeping in his airplane tonight and trying to figure out a new route as his next planned stop will not have the fuel that he needs for another 2 weeks.

Onto our Father's Day celebrating Gary.  When I first met him 13 years ago, there were 3 things that attracted me to him; he was a Christian who loved the outdoors and was great with kids.  I knew early on that he would make an awesome father and that was just really...hot.

Gary truly is a great dad.  He involves them with everything (therefore spending quality time and teaching skills), he wrestles with them, and he shows them how to love and respect those around him by example.  

{Taken in front of Trisha's garage door pre-hike, I actually really love the colour of this door!}

To celebrate Father's Day this year, we went to church and then headed out to Abbotsford to my sister Trisha's house.  We were going on a family hike but decided not to take Nya.  This may have been the first family outing with her.  I felt really bad but I know that Miss Independent would want to walk the whole thing and we did not have 10 hours of patience with us.  She was thrilled to have some play time with cousin Hannah so I know she had a great time.

To be honest, it was so easy without her.  The boys are great hikers and therefore I had my hands free to take photos and just relax.  Poor Nya, we'll take you some time!

I just need to take a break from the talk of hiking to show you teenage Kai.  Okay, so he's 7.5 years old, but still, when did he stretch out to become so thin and tall?

All right, back to the hike.  We decided to hike McKee Peak as it's short, close, and still a bit of a challenge.  In the past we have hiked the Grouse Grind and Lower Falls with the kids so this was a sort of `in between' hike for them.  Before reaching the trail, Koen said over and over again, `I don't want to do a hike' and then 30 seconds into the hike he was saying `I love this! This is so fun!'.  That kid.

It took about 45 minutes to get to the top.  Kai is definitely the fastest of all of us.  Koen said he felt close to giving up but never did.  He also talked THE ENTIRE TIME.  That kid.  

There are a lot of mountain bikers heading up this trail but then they take the side trails down.  It's just a nice steady incline.  

Our boys do not sit still for a picture.  This was as good as it got.

In the picture above, Koen was pretty sure he got stinging `medals'.  Nope, he didn't.

And, the true motivator. Chocolate covered blueberries halfway up. Yum.

There's a beautiful meadow at the top.  At this point we were about 1 minute from the end so they took off running pretending they were in Amazing Race.  Gary and I placed second in case you were wondering. 

By this time it was raining so we started heading back down.  We stopped to have chicken salad wraps under the tree.  Thank you Gary for making your own Father's Day lunch.

You can tell in the photo above that Kai has just a few chocolate covered blueberries in his mouth.  He likes to savour things and will suck on them for as long as possible.

Had it not been raining, the view would've been pretty nice but this gives you an idea.

It took about 30 minutes to get down.  At this point we were really wet but the boys were still having fun.  I bet there are a ton of geocaches in the area but we didn't even think about it beforehand.

Then, it was off to get Miss Nya who had a fantastic time with Hannah.  Thanks for watching her, Trish!

Our plan is to do a hike per week this summer.  I need to figure out a way for Nya to stay in the Ergo or backpack without trying to fling herself out or screaming `I do it!' the whole time.

I hope you had a good weekend.  If you have any local hikes that you'd recommend with kids, please let me know!  I'll be keeping you posted on some throughout the summer.  Yahoo, I said `summer'!!

Love, Louise