UnAlaska

13. Unexpected

August 21, Glacier Bay

The group waited while the zodiac captain lashed the boat to the float of the sea plane with thick ropes. The plane's pilot propped her door open, zipped her brown leather shearling aviator jacket, and climbed down to stand on the float. "We're all loaded up with supplies, and ready when you are."

Brian waved. "Thank you. Excited for it."

Laura looked at Brian. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Tanada Lake, in Wrangell St. Elias National Park."

"Why not take the boat?"

"This is faster! And besides, I've always wanted to fly in one of these."

"Hm."

The pilot nodded, sweeping an errant auburn hair from her middle aged face and hooking it behind her ear. "We'll take her up and over the Wrangell Mountains, the view should be fantastic. It's nice and clear today."

Laura gave the plane an appraising look. The red fuselage glinted in the sunlight as it bobbed in the water, punctuated by a white stripe that continued down the leading edges of the wings. The pilot hooked one arm around the float's supports and held her other hand out for Laura to climb up. Laura looked to Brian, then the pilot, paused for a moment, then took her hand and levered herself onto the float.

The float rocked as she kept climbing into the small cabin of the plane. Inside the plane, the cargo area brimmed with large duffel bags. Next to them, Laura spotted two folding tables and a stack of wooden folding chairs. In front of the cargo, the cabin split into rows of vinyl seats. In the last row, a lanky young man regarded her with a quiet stare wearing a wool beanie, a few day old coat of stubble, and a gauge earring. Laura nodded, and he nodded back.

Brian boarded behind her, with Juni. He waved to the man in the back row. "That's our chef for today."

"I thought I recognized him." Laura said. "Is that Shane Hale?"

"In the flesh."

"Wait, how did you get him up here?"

"He owed me a favor. Long story."

Laura shook her head in disbelief. Shane Hale, the 'Sorcerer of Blake Island,' ran a hotel and restaurant called Alder, shrouded in a hush-hush air of mystique. People waited on lists for years to stay at Alder and dine, shoveling eye watering sums of money in the process.

A moment later the zodiac slowly pulled away and they found seats in the small plane. Juni sat with Annaliese, and pressed herself against the small porthole window. Laura and Brian filed into in the row behind them. The sea plane's pilot climbed in and shut and latched the door. She walked to the cockpit, put on a headset, and flipped a few switches with loud clicks. The plane's large engine whined and then coughed to life. A small cloud of brown smoke trailed outside the windows as the propeller began to turn. She turned the plane around at idle speed, and then adjusted the flaps. She pushed the throttle and the engine became a loud roar. They picked up speed, and then felt a drop in their stomachs as they lifted off the water.

They climbed, the scenery dropping off rapidly below them. Laura could see the glacier they stood on moments ago slip away through her porthole window. They banked over the glacier in a smooth, sweeping turn and headed inland. Below them a wild landscape of frost covered evergreen trees spread out between impossibly large sheets of ice. The Wrangell Mountains heaved skyward, frost covered and jagged. Striped ribbons of glacier flowed from them, winding slowly toward the sea.

A small lake came into view, and the pilot lined them up and started their descent. She eased the plane down, and skimmed the surface with the floats. Outside Laura's window, a mountain jutted straight into the sky. In front of it, evergreen trees dripped with fog behind a lush, green shoreline. The entire scene reflected perfectly in the still water, broken apart a few seconds later as the ripples of their landing overtook them.