Wow! What can I say: any flight, but especially a helicopter flight, across Prince William Sound on a sunny day is just "wow" inspiring.
I had to go to Cordova for a short afternoon meeting yesterday and Alyeska generously offered to fly me and a couple of others over with their helicopter. We started with a cloudless day in Valdez and didn't encounter any significant clouds until we reached Cordova. By late afternoon, when we left Cordova, it was sunny everywhere. Simply perfect.
Guy, the morning pilot, flew us along the coastline out Valdez Arm, past Ellamar and Tatitlek and over to Cordova. In the evening, Jim flew us over the mountains and down Solomon Gulch into Valdez. Below are some of the photos I took in roughly chronological order. It was so sunny and bright that I had a hard time seeing the screen on my camera; as a result, a lot of the photos show more window glare than I'd have liked. Unfortunately, my camera battery died about halfway back to Valdez so I missed a few nice shots, but I was in the backseat for that flight so it was harder to get good shots anyway.
Monty Morgan and I in our very sexy flight suits on the tarmac in Valdez. They're essentially dry suits to "protect" you in the event of an emergency water landing.
Valdez on our way out of town
Valdez Arm
Alyeska Terminal with the Alaskan Explorer taking on oil
Jack Bay
I'm not sure which bay this is (if you know, tell me, please)
Ellamar
Tatitlek
Cordova
Glorious Prince William Sound
