There is still time for one last big adventure before winter arrives, and few could be bigger than flying into the heart of the Moon Crater myth* in Aniakchak National Park and Preserve. Located 450 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaskan Penninsula, Aniakchak requires a commitment in fuel and fortitude but the reward is great. At the end of your journey is an aerial view of the Moon Crater, which contains two-mile-long Surprise Lake, source of the Aniakchak River, which lies smack in the caldera of the active volcano.
Aniakchak was made famous by the explorer Bishop Bernard Hubbard, the so-called "Glacier Priest." His first trip there was in 1930 to study Mt Aniakchak. He visited it again in 1931 after the volcano's last eruption and returned finally and most famously, in 1932. On that trip, with pilot Frank Dorbandt at the controls, Hubbard, Dorbandt and mechanic Herb Larison landed on Surprise Lake making the first successful landing in an active volcano. Upon arriving, as Hubbard later wrote in "Cradle of the Storms," Dorbandt nonchalantly said, "Well, Pop, I told you I'd land you in Aniakchak."
To arrive in Aniakchak today, pilots can depart Anchorage in a Cessna 185 on floats and fly southwest 250 miles for about an hour and half to King Salmon, the gateway to the park where fuel can be purchased. The King Salmon Visitors Center is located close to the airport and staffed by National Park Service personnel daily through the summer. (Phone for operating hours in September.) Contact Katmai Air Service for fuel purchase on the river.
From King Salmon fly less than an hour, about 120 miles, south/southwest to Aniakchak where you can land at Meshik Lake, Surprise Lake, or Aniakchak, Amber, or Kujulik bays. There are no facilities in the park though, so if you do land be sure to carefully secure your aircraft and, of course, keep an eye out for bears. (Father Hubbard had a quite memorable experience with a brown bear and her cub on his first visit.) Going to Aniakshak is not so much about landing though, as this is a case where the journey really is the destination. The point is to see the 6 square mile caldera and Surprise Lake, get some killer photographs and capture a flying story that will be appreciated at every party and bar you visit for the rest of your life.
It's a lake in an active volcano -- no one can touch that for drama.
The most important factor when flying on the Alaskan Penninsula is the weather and obviously a careful survey of conditions along the way, as well as a serious conversation with flight service prior to departure, is smart flight planning. But don't let what the weather might be intimidate you -- just monitor the forecast and be prepared to turn back at any time if the visibility decreases. This is purely a sight-seeing flight so without good conditions, it's not worth going.
On your return trip head back to King Salmon for another fuel stop and take some time to fly over Katmai National Park. It's a long day from Anchorage to Aniakchak and back and bringing along your own meals makes this trip a less than gourmet event. (Although you should certainly deck your picnic basket out with some choice items from the city to enjoy along the way.) However, what you will see on flying this route is nothing short of monumental and an opportunity that should not be passed up. Aniakchak is one of the least visited areas in the national park service system; that alone should be invitation enough to any adventurous Alaskan.
*The Moon Crater myth originates from a 1930 article in The Saturday Evening Post. Aniakchak does not, in fact, have anything to do with the moon. (I am also disappointed by this fact.)
Read more about Bishop Hubbard's explorations of Aniakchak in the National Park Service publication Beyond the Moon Crater Myth by Katherine Ringsmuth.
And contact Colleen Mondor at colleen(at)alaskadispatch.com