Redoubt raises doubt

It looks like we will fly to Kiana if Mt Redoubt keeps quiet for the next 15 hours. So why is a volcano located south of Anchorage possibly delaying or canceling our flight to northwest Alaska?

Well, we have to fly on Alaska Airlines to Anchorage (due South, 400 miles), hop on a plane to Kotzebue (northwest, 550 miles), and then get on another plane to Kiana (60 miles east). Kiana, as the crow flies, is only 300 miles northwest of Fairbanks! There are no direct flights from Fairbanks to Kiana, but there are two smaller airlines that fly directly to Kotzebue.

Mt. Redoubt is an active volcano, 10200 feet high, which has erupted about five times in the last century. The last eruption was in 1989, which lasted for 4 months and caused significant concern about air travel over the ash plumes from the eruption. Volcanic ash causes serious damage to jet engines, and can actually lock up the jets and take a plane down. Here is a photo of the ash plume (about 50000 feet high!) from the eruption last Monday, March 23, 2009.

More information, alerts and photos of Mt Redoubt - or any other Alaskan volcano - can be found at the Alaska Volcano Observatory website.

I'm very excited for our trip out. With all the preparation and anticipation, I sure hope the volcano sleeps for the next week. Rock-a-bye, Redoubt...