The storm was nearing Miminiska Lodge as Bill Holley and Pete Aarsvold made their visual approach to Runway 27 in Bill’s turbo Piper
Saratoga. Immediately upon landing, they took shelter beneath the wings of their aircraft, and immediately after Phil Peterson and his son, Mark, landed, they huddled beneath the wings of their Piper Archer, along with lodge manager, Katie Howe, who was there
to greet the newest arrivals. Dick Doerfer and I were trailing an hour
behind in my Cessna Skylane because of a slight delay with Canadian
Customs at Thunder Bay, and our need to skirt an isolated thunderstorm 100 miles south of Miminiska. Other
members of our group arrived earlier, and the weather cleared for a wonderful week of fishing, fine dining, and fantastic flying adventures!
It was Wednesday, August 22, 2007, the beginning of the three-day,
four-night “Midwest Flyer Canadian Fishing Fly-Out” to Miminiska
Lodge, located 196 nm north of Thunder Bay, Ontario, on Miminiska
Lake along the Albany River.
A number of us met up that morning at Middleton Municipal Airport-Morey Field (C29), west of Madison, Wis., to fuel up, check weather, file our flight plans, and call Canadian Customs with our ETAs into Thunder Bay. Our first leg was to Grand Marais, Minnesota (CKC) to top off our tanks one last time before crossing the border. Since we all departed at approximately the same time, we all took different routing and altitudes above an overcast layer at 4,000 feet. Some headed north to Rhinelander and then west to Duluth and up to Grand Marais… Others flew north-west to La Crosse, then north to Duluth and on to Grand Marais. You know the feeling… bright sunshine above a blanket of white clouds, and the thought that you are on vacation! [click here to read the full article]
