Nice walk this morning around part of the 4.2 mile track around Lake Hood before our flight to LA.

Over 1000 floatplanes are based here, 500 on slips and 500 on tie downs and they look quite a sight around the lake edge. Apparently a 10 year waitlist for a floatplane slip and approx 300 people pay $25/year just to stay on the list.

70,000 aircraft operations /year averaging 439/day so plenty to watch from hotel and on walk. 25 remote lodges are served by the planes either dependent or partially dependent on the flight services. Flights support hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing plus mining exploration activity and oil and gas production. 24,000 flightseeing tours each year.

Base also for Iditarod Air Force-40,000 odd volunteer pilots who move hundreds of dropped or scratched dogs, over 120,000 pounds of dog food, hundreds of bales of hay for dog bedding and other materials to support the 1,049 mile sled dog race from Nome to Anchorage. And that is a fascinating story in itself and especially the use of dog sleds to deliver serum to save Nome from the diphtheria epidemic in 1938. Google it!

Link to photos

Author: Gill

Hi. I'm fun-loving, creative, mostly energetic and a mother of 3. My interests are family, culinary pursuits (I own just a few cookbooks...), socialising and entertaining, living and always learning.