Max and Chris take flight

Friend and co-worker Chris finally got me to go flying with him, to pay me back for sweeping the snow off his plane a couple of winters ago. He's got a small Cessna on skis, and for two big guys, it's a squeeze.

We flew right over our house on the way out of town. Count the woodpiles in the woods.

Chis took me on a nice tour of the White Mountains, a rugged range of limestone crags. The BLM has a nice trail system with cabins that loops through this wild, remote area. Place names like Fossil Creek, Brachiopod Gulch and Windy Arch excite the geologist in me.

Below is a view of the Mt Prindle area...looking cold with the winter sun low in the sky.

Ancient rounded alpine ridges to the N and E of Mt Prindle are studded with "tors". These towers of resistant bedrock jut up to 100 ft above surrounding weathered scree and tundra.

A limestone peak in the White Mountains. Not much snow here yet.


Our very own open pit gold mine, the Fort Knox Mine, near Cleary Summit to the NE of Fairbanks. You'd never know it was there until you see it from the air. Boy, is it deep!