I flew Lake and Penn Air this past weekend from Anchorage (Merrill Field, the local/regional…read morecarrier airport, not Ted Stevens) to Port Alsworth, Alaska to spend the weekend at Lake Clark National Park.
I paid $530 roundtrip for my flight, which is pretty standard for catching an Alaskan Bush Plane out to all the remote national parks that cannot be reached by vehicle.
For finding the Lake and Penn Air Terminal, I simply plugged Merrill Field into Google Maps and had no issues finding them.
I parked in an open spot right beside the aircraft building. This was free of charge and all that Lake and Penn Air asked of me was to leave my car keys with them in case they had to move my vehicle for any reasons.
Departing Anchorage for an 8am flight, I was told to show up at the airport by 7am.
Upon arriving, I simply check in at the counter and then walked outside to a hangar-like building where they weighed my luggage bags.
I was allowed to have up to 50 pounds of weight without being charged an extra fee. That was no problem. I was just venturing around Lake Clark for a few days and didn't need much luggage with me.
I departed right on time at 8am. As per my usual routine, I asked one of the employees to take a photo of myself standing in front of the propeller plane, as I was venturing out to my 60th National Park! Of course, the girl obliged and took a few picks before I boarded.
The Bush Plane departing to Port Alsworth had 4 rows and 8 passengers on board including myself. There was one unoccupied seat across from me in the 4th row which actually worked out well as I was able to change seats during the flight because the views flying to Port Alsworth were beautiful! Amazingly beautiful, lol!
So yes, I highly recommend getting your camera and phone out ready to take pictures and videos while flying. Most of the wondrous scenery came as we were away from Anchorage and closer towards Port Alsworth.
Btw, the flight was roughly about 1 hour long.
Also great about Lake and Penn Air is that when I arrived at 9am in Port Alsworth, my cabin that I had reserved wasn't available until 3pm so they happily stored my belongings in their office/garage until I was finished exploring for the day and ready to be driven to my cabin by my Air B&B host.
For my return flight, it was scheduled at 5pm in the late afternoon. Once again Lake and Penn Air told me they had no issues storing my luggage until departure time because I had to check out of my cabin by 11am. So that was great of them.
Now...since it was so rainy and there were tough conditions throughout my Lake Clark visit, the day prior I stopped by Lake and Penn Air's office and asked them if they had an earlier flight leaving the following day for which I could change departures. They did have a 7am flight back to Anchorage and since there was space onboard the aircraft, they simply switched me without even clicking a button!
Finally, for my 7am departure back to Anchorage, I had Lyle (who I believe is the owner of Lake and Penn Air) as my pilot.
And...I really appreciated Lyle! here's why....
It was 7am in the morning and it was pouring rain! I was nervous to fly, lol, actually frightened. But Lyle told me not to worry I'm in good hands.
Although the flight back to Anchorage was pretty bumpy and we flew through clouds the entire way, I trusted Lyle (obviously) with my life, lol, and yep we landed safely back at Merrill Field.
I tell ya...I'll never understand how these pilots fly in such tough weather, but they can do it, and Lyle was a professional and I couldn't have asked for more!
I'm happy to be writing this review about Lake and Penn Air.
I know there is also Lake Clark Air that flies out to Port Alsworth...and people do have choices, but I am here to recommend that Lake and Penn Air are 5 stars worthy fantastic!
Thank you, Lake and Penn Air, for being a memorable part of my national park journey experience.
