Sometimes out of the blue, a familiar face can do wonders for time spent on the trail. This morning, Cindy Andrecheck got an idea to send her other half, Tom Ratledge to Takotna with their 172. Was I interested? Well, sure I was interested, but it probably wasn’t the best idea. I’m still on the mend and it just wasn’t in the cards for me.
So luckily, my Kaiser partner in crime, Rick Hanson, jumped at the chance. Before long the plane was in the air outbound for Takotna, 2 hours NorthEast of Bethel.
Once they arrived, all the chips just fell into place. Mark Nordman had just landed as well and before long the trio of Kaiser Crew were in sleds headed for downtown Takotna.
As they came around the bend, there was Pete feeding his dogs with a quizzical look, like, “Hmmm…. That person looks familiar” and it surely was– it was his dad Ron. What a great surprise for Pete on the Trail!
Pete and the Team are doing well and taking advantage of the Takotna amenities. After looking at the Team, Pete took the crew up to meet Richie at the Roadhouse for some burgers and that Famous Pie. (I love Pete to death, but not going was killing me for another reason– After 7 years of writing about them, the taste of that pie would have been oh so special!)
Pete and Richie both are pretty much just resting up and attending to a bit of dog care as they wait to get back on the trail, but they were really happy to see some familiar faces while on the trail. To that end, it was time to let them get back to resting and the guys loaded up in another sled and got a ride back to the airport for the flight back down to Bethel.
It was a great afternoon in the checkpoint and I’m sure it was great for Pete and Richie to have spent some time with some of their “Homies.”
Thanks so much to Tom and Cindy for making this happen. Yukon Helicopters has been a sponsor since the beginning and this was just icing on the cake!
