AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 72

batteries, and toilet paper. The DeFreests carry a personal locator
beacon and a Garmin InReach satellite messenger, file VFR flight
plans, and they let friends know where they're going, the route
they're following, and when they plan to return.
Southeast Alaska is bear country, and the DeFreests bring
handguns for protection. (He has a Colt .45, and she carries a .357
Magnum.) Maggie the dog with her sensitive nose is usually the
first to sense bears.
" She'll bark like crazy, " Jeff says. " And then she'll cower
behind you. "
Best deal in aviation
We ride the skiff to the north end of Heckman Lake and beach it
at the vacant Forest Service cabin there. Then we follow a hiking
trail to Jordan Lake about two miles away. The trail follows a river
downstream, and fallen logs, tree cover, clear water, deep holes,
and abundant insects make it a trout haven.
It's rainy, and the trail is soggy and slippery in places. Much of
Kari DeFreest and Maggie on Heckman Lake, a favorite place to visit by
seaplane. The float Cessna 180 is ideal for Southeast Alaska because of its
speed, range, and ability to get to and from the region's countless lakes.
After an hour or so, we return to the cabin to dry out, eat moose
steaks the DeFreests brought, and prepare to sleep in a pair of
wooden bunkbeds. I inflate a bedroll and camp pillow, unfurl my
sleeping bag, then crawl into a bunk to test it out. It's only 8:30 p.m.,
and the sun is a full hour from setting, but I fall deeply asleep and
don't awaken until morning. Bed test, satisfactory.
Cabin essentials
Kari DeFreest made breakfast burritos and coffee, and that seems
like an ideal start to our first full day on the lake.
The eggs taste so good I ask whether they're farm fresh,
and Kari assures me they're not.
" Everything just tastes better out
here, " she adds.
Last year, on Jeff's sixtieth birthday,
they stayed in a cabin and Kari
baked a three-layer Black Forest cake
on the camp stove. It was an accomplishment
they still laugh about.
Instead of bringing drinking water,
she carries a water purifier that filters
lake water.
" The water purifier is a lot lighter
than packing in your own water, " she
said. " You can drink as much as you
want, and it tastes just as good. "
Other cabin essentials include a
fuel source (fuel oil in some cabins,
fire-starter for wood stoves in others);
food, as well as a meal plan; sleeping
bags; survival gear, satellite messenger;
72
AOPA PILOT / August 2022
it is made from wooden timbers with steep steps that must have
taken exceptional effort to build. Maintaining the trail from damage
by erosion, harsh winters, and trees that fall across and splinter
must take a great deal of commitment.
The cabins themselves can be reserved up to six months in
advance, but locals typically don't book that far out.
" We usually wait until we know there's going to be a stretch
of good weather, or we've got visitors coming to town, and then
we reserve the cabins online a few days prior, " Jeff said. " During
the COVID-19 pandemic it was easy to get cabins a day or two
before. Now that people are traveling again, it's smart to reserve
them earlier than that. "
There are 142 U.S. Forest Service cabins in the Tongass
National Forest, and about 40 are accessible by seaplane only. Just
four-Eva, Heckman Southeast, Virginia, and West Turner-have
their own docks.
DeFreest said cabin " poaching "
(unauthorized and unpaid stays in
Forest Service cabins) doesn't seem
to be a significant problem, but
there's really no way to know. A U.S.
Forest Service airplane sometimes
overflies the cabins, and it's easy to
spot floatplanes on a dock or tied up
on a beach, but the odds of getting
caught are low.
" These cabins rely on the honor
system, and the vast majority of cabin
users are honest, " Jeff said. " People
who use them want to keep them.
And, let's face it, they're an exceptionally
good deal. " The Heckman Lake
Southeast cabin, for example, costs
about $75 a night total for four people.
" That's cheaper than just about
anything else in aviation. "

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - BB1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - BB2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 102
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 106
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 107
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - Cover4
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