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Destination: Aiken Creek Camp

Route Notes

  • Minimum altitude: 500-1000 Feet
  • Landing zone: water, not frozen in winter
  • Aiken Creek Scenery is for "Return to Misty Moorings"
  • GPS - N55 07.20 W132 12.10.
  • Print-Able copy HERE
  • Flight Seeing Plan Available HERE

Aiken Creek Camp

You will find this little camp situated at a small extension (Aiken Cove) of the north arm of Moira Sound on Prince of Wales Island. This camp has a very tricky approach partly because of the narrow and turning landing zone. As you approach the landing zone look for the red and green channel buoys and follow them to the destination.

TreeTop VFR Plan

From: Misty's Place (PF20)
To: Aiken Creek Camp

  • Flight Overview: This is a relatively easy flight until the end, it gets more and more dangerous as you approach your destination. Carefully read over the NOTAMs and know what you are doing before you attempt this flight!
  • For FS Autopilot ... turn it off where indicated, it will do you NO GOOD in this landing zone.

Line up on Rwy 17 (up by the white cottage) at Misty's Place. When you lift off, turn to port and fly out over Bostwick Inlet. (Watch out for the birds always flying around the Misty Point Lighthouse. At Nichols Passage, the body of water ahead, we'll be turning to starboard, so line up on Seal Cove Rocks as your first waypoint.

COURSE: After liftoff, turn sharply to port and fly out over Bostwick Inlet to the last starboard point which is Seal Cove Rocks.

COURSE: At Seal Rocks, turn to starboard to a heading of 176. Your next waypoint is Dall Head, the last point of land ahead on your starboard side, about 4 miles ahead.

COURSE:Over Dall Head, set a course of 220 for about 14 miles. This will take you into the heart of Moira Sound.

  • Prince of Wales Island. The island ahead of you is 135 miles (217 km) long, 45 miles (72 km) wide and has an area of 2,577 sq mi (6,674 km2), about 1/10 the size of Ireland and slightly larger than the State of Delaware. Approximately 6,000 people live on the island.

  • Craig is the largest community, founded as a saltery in the early 20th century, it has a population of 1,000. Some 750 people live in Klawock, a long-established village that grew with the fishing industry. Hollis was a boom and bust mining town from 1900 to about 1915, abandoned, it was re-established as a logging camp in the '50s, and now has a population of 100. Hollis is where the ferry terminal is located, one hour drive from Craig and a three-hour trip to Ketchikan.

  • Fjords, steep-sided mountains, and dense forests characterize the island. Extensive tracts of limestone include karst features such as El Capitan Pit, at 598.3 feet (182.4 m) the deepest vertical shaft in the United States.

COURSE: Approaching Moira Sound, there are several islands at the mouth of the sound. The larger one that comes first on your port wing will be Whiterock Island. The similar sized island a mile further and more to starboard is Moira Island. As you near the sound, set your heading to fly over Moira island.

COURSE: Over Moira Island, set a course for 286 toward to fly into the North Arm of the Moira Sound. The is a point of land stretching across most of the entrance, fly over that point into the heart of the North Arm. Begin reducing altitude to 300 feet.

COURSE: Diechman Island shows up near the center of the arm. When you reach that island, turn to port to about 270.

  • NOTAM: Assume landing configuration, flaps speed, lower altitude to 300 feet.

COURSE: The arm splits ahead, Nowinsky Cove is to starboard, you want to take the port branch toward Aiken Cove. You will see a line of tiny green marker buoys. You can follow them all the way to your destination.

COURSE: As you see the end of this arm coming up, turn to port into the narrow inlet.

  • NOTAM: make sure AUTOPILOT is OFF, it will do you no good in this landing zone. You should be at "wavetop" altitude, full flaps and landing speed.

LANDING ZONE OPTIONS:

  1. Option 1 ... land in this narrow waterway, stay between the green and red marker buoys ... then taxi to the cabin.
  2. Option 2 ... Fly to the end of this narrow waterway, be at wavetop altitude with flaps full. You will make a sharp turn to port and immediately land. The cabin will be ahead of you on the far shore. (Very short landing zone!)

Welcome to Aiken Creek Cabin. Enjoy the fishing ... hey, there's one jumping right in front of the plane!

Doug Linn
Charter Manager
Misty Moorings, Inc
contact@mistymoorings.com