This year, volleyball regionals took place in a little place called Dutch Harbor. This little island near the end of the Aluetian chain has been made famous through the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch," which is the story of what crab fisherman endure during the season. The boats come out of Dutch Harbor. However, Dutch Harbor is also famous among Alaskans as one of the most difficult places to fly into. And, considering all of the crazy places that pilots fly to up here, that is saying something. Well, let me tell you, there is a reason for the stigma!
On Wednesday, November 28, our team of 12 volleyball players and two coaches left Kotzebue en route to Anchorage, and finally to Dutch. We made it into Anchorage with no problem. As I boarded the 30-seater plane, eyes already drooping from the Dramamine that I had taken, I knew I was in for a wild ride. However, it didn't end up being as wild as I imagined. After flying halfway to Dutch, our captain turned the plane around and brought us back to Anchorage because there was no way we could land in Dutch due to the 75 mph winds that they were experiencing. The tournament was postponed because only 5 of the 10 teams made it in before the storm hit.
We stayed overnight in Anchorage and woke early Thursday morning to catch the 7am flight hoping that our second chance would go better than the first. On the plane was our team, along with the Bethel volleyball team, all trying to make it to regionals. For the second day in a row, we boarded the plane, ready for a wild ride. We made a pit stop in King Salmon to refuel, and ended up there for 2 hours waiting for the weather to break. When our captain finally gave us the go-ahead, we all ran out on the plane with fingers-crossed. After making the 1.5 hour trip to King Salmon, we continued for another 1.5 hours to Dutch. We had been circling Dutch for about 45 minutes when our stuardess came on the intercom and informed us that we were heading back to King Salmon, and then back to Anchorage... for the second day in a row. We found out later that there was a category one hurricane over Dutch Harbor when we were wanting to land.
So, for the second night in a row, we stayed in Anchorage, and woke up early Friday morning to catch the flight. At this point, we had to make it in or we would forfeit our matches. For the third day in a row, we walked out to the plane, hoping beyond hope that we would finally see the famous Dutch Harbor. We flew to a place called Cold Bay, which is much closer to Dutch Harbor than King Salmon so that we could just right into Dutch when there was a break in the weather. We quickly fueled up and before we even had a chance to get off the plane, our captain said it was time to go. We made it to the air above Dutch Harbor and began to circle again, much like the day before. Without so much as a warning, we nose dived for the ground at about a 60 degree angle. We had heard a rumor that you can only land on the runway in the day, when there is a good amount of visibility, and as soon as we saw it we understood why: in order to get in you have to fly between two mountains. The runway is cut out of the side of a hill on one side, with the Bering Sea on the other. But, we didn't care... WE MADE IT!! Third time's a charm.
As soon as we landed, we were rushed to the gym and had to play an hour later. The girls played well, considering that we all felt like we were still flying up and down. We ended up losing in a 5-game match, and then winning our second match later that evening. Many of the girls ended up with terrible headaches and/or throwing up because of all the travelling. We played another match on Saturday and lost, which concluded our season. But, we had a fun time in Dutch. Even though it was crazy getting in, it really is a beautiful place. And, we got to meet a couple of the captains from Deadliest Catch! Here are some pictures from the trip:
The mountains:
The harbor:
crab pots:
They have bald eagles like Seattle has crows
The airport runway!
It was a great trip, and an awesome volleyball season. I will probably never get another chance to go to Dutch!
No comments:
Post a Comment