It All Depends on the Weather

Today I was to fly to Katmai Bay for a four day trip.  Katmai Bay is on the east coast of Katmai National Park.  We would have taken the Beaver in, landed in the water and pulled the boat to the beach, unloaded all our gear and begin our work.  I was all excited as I was hoping to see Marine Life, for instance, maybe a seal, or gray whale.  You know something cool. 

I put on my pack of gear and headed out the door.  It was gray and about 50% cloud cover but no rain.  by the 8:05 flight briefing gale force winds were attacking the coast and it had started to rain in King Salmon.  The weather report said it was to get worse as the day went on.  All flights for the day were cancelled.  The outlook for the rest of the week looks grim.  That is working life in Alaska.  At the 2:30 flight briefing we were given a 2.5% chance for a go tomorrow.  The pilot didn't want to dash all our hopes.  But who knows.

On Friday of last week the only thing I had on my agenda for Saturday was to meet with the team for Katmai Bay and get gear around and groceries bought.  Friday at lunch I was told that there was an Eagle meeting at 8:00 am.  I flew home from brooks camp at 4:30 that afternoon.  The meeting was still at 8:00 am.  When the flight landed 25 minutes later I was told the group flying in from Lake Clark NP were not going to be able to get here till 10:30.  Saturday morning I was called and told that their plane was having some difficulties and the meeting was postponed until 12:30.  At 11:30 I was called and told that the meeting was going to start at Noon because they would be arriving sooner than expected.  By the time I got that call I was Naknek doing the grocery shopping for the trip and I just told them that I would not be there at noon as I was still doing the shopping for Katmai Bay.  By the time I got to the office the meeting was over. 

Yesterday two groups went out in the bush.  They are suppose to be picked up on Thursday.  If the winds don't die down they will be left there until it is safe to fly.  Those teams packed for an extra three days, which is how many days extra we bought food for.  I guess it is not uncommon to spend a few extra days because of weather delays.  You can not be uptight in Alaska you have to go with the flow and adapt to the up to the minute changes.  It does make life interesting.