Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Far End of Crazy

Had a chance to be part of the Air National Guard's almost unpredencted effort to save the 23-man crew of a sinking ship way way WAAAAYYYY the hell out there on the Aluetian chain.

Here's proof.



If the Aluetians are famous at all, than its only for bad weather and unimaginable remoteness. As it turned out, they were astonishingly beautiful. Sheer cliff faces drop into the ocean, covered in tropicly-thick, green vegetation, either hardy grass and shrubs or trees. Of course, the weather was, by Aluetian standards, impeccible, and all those trees and shrubs had that clingy look that comes from regular batterings of 80 mph winds in freezing temps. But as scenery goes, there was hardly anything BUT cliffs, waterfalls and beaches.
Oh, also the occasional volcano. Or four.



Aluetian Islands, 8-aircraft, 14-hour rescues and 80-degree-listing, 4600-car-carrying ships Rule.

matt