Day 36: The Eagle Has Landed

Captain Jack touched down at CYCW at 3 pm today. Thanks to the Angels and God above for keeping him safe.

On his last day of flight he put on his most official looking pilots shirt ( old airforce shirt from the thrift store) to make his grand return. He also used it in the hopes that he would get a hitched ride back to his plane which was tied down at the Flying U Ranch near his cabin on Green Lake. He thinks he looks more professional with it on, not like any ordinary hitchhiker =)
We all know how special you are Captain Jack.

Leaving Green lake

Followed the Fraser Canyon for awhile, this is near Lilloette

Then up and over the top towards Pemberton.

Pemberton valley

And there it is, the mighty Fraser and lovely Fraser Valley. I am home.

He is happy to be home to welcome his newest grandaughter Lucy Elizabeth into the family. She makes 13 grandchildren from his 5 daughters.

He has flown 9,176 miles and 84 hours of airtime. So many good and interesting memories. He will take a couple of days to tidy up his plane, put his seats back in and then fly back to Lethbridge on Thurs for a family wedding.
There won't be any more posts until sometime next week when I hope to be able to relay some more of his stories and pictures.

WELCOME BACK CAPTAIN JACK
GEJG signing off.

Day 35 Green Lake - getting closer to home.

Today Jack left his family in Lethbridge behind, after a short stop. Next weekend he will be back there again for a nieces wedding.
Another family coffee stop and visit in Sparwood BC then carried on up to near 100 Mile House and to his favourite get away place, Green Lake.
He did pass through some bad weather near Golden /Revelstoke but with so many miles under his belt he just "went for it" . When he sends a text " that was not a nice storm, its behind me now" I know it was a white knuckler.
Jack will spend the night at the cabin and get the lawn mowed there, back to reality !! Eagles are often seen around where the cabin is at Green lake, as Jack said when he arrived it is a beautiful place.!.

Almost home Captain Jack. One more sleep!

Posted by Jo

Day 34 Lethbridge AB - sort of home

Today Jack left Selkirk Manitoba heading across Saskatchewan to Lethbridge Alberta. 

Landing in Regina he sees someone waving at him as he approaches the fuel pumps.  "No one knows me here in Regina thinks Jack, am I in trouble"  Turns out it is one of Jacks fellow hanger mates from  Chilliwak. The notorious crop Duster Dan dropping off the plane in the picture. Dan recognized GEJG and its pilot.  They then met later in Swift Current for coffee. 

Very late in the trip Jack finally figures out how to use his "auto pilot". Jack says "More elastics more pull.  Tray moves back forth for pitch control. Now I figure it out :)! " See the picture

As of yesterday In Manitoba, you can see on the map how far he has travelled. Thats allot of miles. 

Tonight he has stopped in Lethbridge where most of his family lives, Mother, 2 brothers and a sister. Good dutiful son checking in w Mom after a long trip =)

Back to reality very soon for Jack. Time to mow the lawns at the cabin and then home to see the wife and kids.  I am thinking he will be ready to get back out on a trip in a few weeks. So much nicer just flying around where there are no cops, no chores ( or nothing that feels like a chore when it is about the plane) lots of peaceful uninterrupted me time.  But oh the stories he will be able to tell. 

Have fun with the sibs tonight....not too many night caps Captain Jack. 

Look forward to seeing you back on this side of the Rockies soon. 

posted by Jo

Day 33 St Andrews /Selkirk Manitoba

This morning Jack left Red Lake to fly over the crash site  and take a few  pictures for Braydon.  Jack said seeing Braydon and the plane were sobering but won't change anything except appreciate everything just tad more - Braydon feels same way. 

Jack used Braydon's car, a late model Volvo sedan, that Braydon  bought here in Mission to take him across country to his job. Price was the motivator and the car has done well. Slight problem with the speedometer but nothing serious. Well, nothing that is until Jack got pulled over for speeding on his way to the airport =) Now, if you know Jack well you know he has a "huge aversion" to cops pulling him over for speeding. ( he had not had a ticket for speeding in 25 years until he got pulled over by a very serious new constable a couple of years ago, the cop just said well this will break the record, Jack has not forgiven him =) He continually claims flying is way better!!.... no police up there. Thankfully today Constable Y was much more understanding, first he was interested that the Volvo had made it all the way from the west coast  and then he was even more interested to hear why Jack was there. Jack just has to start to tell his story and there is an immediate interest. They had quite the conversation and in the end Jack passed him a business card with the blog site on it. Thank you Constable Y for renewing Jack's respect for road patrol.

After flying around the area Jack went to St Andrews for some fun flying stunts. He spent an hour with an instructor learning to do roll overs, dives etc. You just have to see the look of excitement on his face to know he had a blast.

He is spending the night at a B&B in Selkirk. Good thing he is indoors because the mosquitos are thick out there. Tomorrow is a bit up in the air, ( no pun intended!) will probably head for Alberta but not sure if he will stop in Saskatchewan for the night. "what its there to do in Saskatchewan" he says.

I know his thoughts are with Braydon and his amazing survival story. He is truly like the son he did not have.

Sleep well GEJG.

Posted by Jo

Red Lake pictures

1. A beautiful place.
2. Ice huts waiting for ice.
3. The one that did not get away...a big fish!
4. Ahhh morning coffee, can it get any better =)

Day 32 Addendum

Technical update;

To the blog followers and those that leave a message but it does not appear on the blog, my apologies. I am not the author of the blog, it is Louise, Jack's daughter. It was set up by her for his Jetski adventure ( that was before I was "the wife" =) and well worth a review). Due to a technical glitch the blog remains under Louise's editorial skills. I can post something via an email and hopefully it all appears but if not I ask Louise to do her magic. So there may be comments that you have left that have been lost in the transition. For those of you who wish to contact either Braydon or Jack you can always leave a text  or ph message on Jack's cell.  He may not get it right away but as soon as he is in WiFi territory he opens his phone. 

Braydon update;

Jack says "Braydon doesn't want this incident to be a big part of his identity , realizes and appreciates it will be something he won't forget but wants to move on in reaching his goal and passion of being a  float plane pilot. He is  loving and appreciating the people, places  challenges and adventures  he's given opportunity to meet everyday." He is off to get some tests done to rule out any other overlooked injuries. He has some stitches in his ear which was badly cut, outwardly that is the most telling he even had an accident.  He was fortunate he landed in a bog not open water. He is certainly establishing himself as an even better pilot as he has demonstrated his capability in times of huge stress!! He is doing better everyday. Braydon you rock!!

A big THANK YOU  to the owners and hosts of Whitewing Resort. They  have opened their doors to Jack as if he was part of Braydon's family. Jack says they have been wonderful, fed him (big plus!!) and everything =) Here is the inside of the lovely cabin he stayed in while there. Looks like a place I would like to see =) 

Jack is off to take some pictures of the area then on to St Andrews, Manitoba later this pm. Fun times waiting for him there. Stay tuned for tonights post for a few good "Jack" stories.

posted by Jo

Day 32 Fishing at Red Lake

Today Jack spent the day having some R&R with Braydon at Red Lake.

This is Jack's message with the picture: 

 "I caught 2 pikes to Braydon's 1, finally was better at something than B" 

I am told there is a picture coming of the actual fish but the internet is  bad and the pictures aren't going through. Maybe just another big fish story?

For those of you who do not know the connection between Braydon and Jack, I will give you a quick update.  

When Jack was taking his flying lessons at  Principal Air - Flight Training  ( Jeanette, awesome teacher)  he met Braydon and they clicked.   Braydon was the 20 something year old son Jack did not have. Now don't be mistaken, he absolutely loves his girls but a guy is a guy and girls often don't speak their language. So Braydon became Jack's flying partner, putting in hours first on the training plane then later in GEJG. Those two put in a lot of flying time together, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement, as Jack did not  have to do much paperwork with Braydon there ( you can imagine Jack's happiness!) and Braydon got flying hours to qualify for his commercial licence. Win, win.

 Braydon was successful at getting his commercial  ( he is a very good pilot) and got a job this summer at Whitewing Resort flying the plane of his dreams, a supercub float plane. His job was to fly into lakes in the area to pick up  trapped minnows used for the local fishing lodges. He was so pleased to have this job. (I hope to give you an accurate account here).

One week ago, while taking off from a smaller lake, he got caught in a huge down draft and his plane went down.  This is called a weather phenomenon.  The plane crashed into the trees and ended up in a bog.  Braydon does not remember the crash but does remember waking to the smell of l/AV gas and burning sensation of chemical burns. He was covered in it. Now the next sequence of events are a testimony to Braydon's training and level headedness. He turned off all electrical, rolled out of the plane into the boggy water, removed the clothes soaked in gas, rinsed as much gas off his body as possible, took a picture of the side of his head to see where he was bleeding from to put pressure on it and got out his emergency pack. Radio soaked in fuel but he turned on elt and the search and rescue came, a Hercules circled until a helicopter came to lift him out of there and to the hospital in Dryden. It took several hours and Braydon was every mosquito's dream, out there in the bog with few clothes on.

Jack's comments are, Plane write off but newer and better one coming - the owners of the plane/lodge are saving his job for him as they very much appreciate and respect Braydon as person and pilot. He's loved by many people in town - people walking up to him and hugging him.... Everyone  has been super supportive and thankfull that Braydon was able to be airlifted out by herc plane and helicopter . Very fortunate esp as was doused in av gas! Took off clothes got into water .... Got chewed by hundreds  mosquitoes!!! Bad  -even with netting but I think he was in bit of shock and just glad to be alive - national safety board  investigated, say cause, weather phenomenon downdraft  no further investigation required.  Braydon lucky and smart / trained . 

We are so thankful that he kept his wits about him. The Whitewing Resort owners Bobbi and Dave have been so good to open up a cabin for Braydon's Mom and Jack to stay in. Jack is glad he was able to visit him and as Jack said "to have a day of normal things like fishing!" The next few days or perhaps week will mean some down time for Braydon as he waits to get the all clear to fly again. Every day he seems better and Jack's hearing his laughter again and that's reassuring !  Braydon keep your wings up!! thinking of you as you get back in Left Seat and look forward to our next get together! 

Jack off to St Andrew's, Manitoba in the afternoon for his own bit of excitement there tomorrow.

Flying seems to be both exhilarating and dangerous but then so is driving in downtown Vancouver most days!

So happy GEJG has so many flying hours under his belt already and is on the home stretch. Stay safe. 

Hugs to the Fly Boys

posted by Jo

Day 32 Red Lake Ont

This morning before leaving Thunder Bay, Jack had a gourmet breakfast at the waterfront. 

Of all the freeze dried food Jack had with him, the breakfast skillet was the best!! and look no dishes to wash, just add hot water and mush the bag around a bit. 

While touring the waterfront Jack noticed they serve  good ethnic food in Thunder Bay.

Jack left Thunder Bay and is now inRed Lake, Ontario catching up with Braydon at the  camp where Braydon flies a float plane. 

Jack mentioned to me that he got some nice Gopro video  of a moose running ( will have to wait to get that on the blog) on his way to Red Lake.  He then saw another one  so he circled around and  to get a really good close up on the Gopro. As he got closer it turned out to be a really big brown stump, ah well can't always get just the right video. 

Jack plans to stay in Red Lake until Friday. He has no cell service at the camp and I am not sure about the internet. 

I know he will be enjoying being there and might even go fishing while there. It is awesome lake country.

Goodnight boys!

posted by Jo

Day 31 Canada Day in Thunder Bay Ont and other travel trivia

You have to chain up the propellors because they get lots of snow in Houghton MI

Pingo so  glad to be back  in the Great White North

Getting near Thunder Bay. Not much turbulence crossing the water, once on land a lot worse.

 Canada Day festivities outside the hotel in Thunder Bay

Andres' 1946 CB  named Eve after his daughter. Andre' is a new friend whom Jack originally connected with through a COPA magazine article.

Jack left today  from his night in Houghton MI. after learning some interesting facts of the area.

Did you know ???

- that Houghton Mi is the birthplace of professional hockey - The Portage Pioneers- late 1800's.m

- that the airport folks are very good to a homeless looking pilot and give him pizza

- that the area is nick named "Copper Islands" because it produced more copper in dollar value than the gold rush.

Now you have travelled to Houghton and on we go across Lake Superior to Thunder Bay where Jack will be spending the night due to weather

His  greatest concern once in Thunder Bay, was clearing customs.There were more questions asked when returning to Canada than there were going into US but all was well. Paper work was properly completed!! Jack said he even put on a clean shirt to clear customs =) that must have done it!

Remember the plane mascot Pingo, remember where he got his name at the beginning of the trip?  When Jack was flying into Tuktoyaktuk on Day 10 he saw them.

A pingo, also called a hydrolaccolith, is a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and subarctic that can reach up to 70 metres in height and up to 600 m in diameter. The term originated as the Inuvialuktun word for a small hill. 

Tomorrow Jack will make it to Red Lake as the weather will be much better. The ceilings were too low today to finish the last leg. Tonight he gets to catch up from last night in the plane, mosquito attack!. Also time for him to reflect that on July 1st 2004 ( I think or 2005) Jack had his re-birthday and was shocked back to life after his heart attack. He is feeling very blessed to be able to do what he is doing  now and to have so much support.

Tomorrow will be a good day spent with Braydon going over the highlights of his trip so far.

Sleep well Captain Jack. 

posted by Jo