Photos: Thousands of miles traveled lets you see a lot -- but hardly all -- of Alaska

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Just a couple of walruses on the coast.

I just returned from a trip that I will not soon forget.

I left Palmer, Alaska, in the Cessna 185 on Oct. 22 and returned eight days later. I covered about 4,700 miles in total, traveling to Southwest Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula and even farther out into the Aleutian Islands. At my farthest point I was 817 miles southwest of home, in the Palmer area in Southcentral Alaska.

We spent a few days in Dillingham, and landed to dump in cans of gas at Port Alsworth, Nyac, Lime Village, Nondalton, Igiugig, Koliganek, King Salmon, Jensens Strip, Port Heiden, Port Moller, Black Hills, Cold Bay and Cape Sarichef. We spent two days on the ground for bad weather, but other than that it was actually quite nice. We saw bears, wolves, thousands of caribou, walruses, moose, eagles, volcanoes, wrecked airplanes, snow, rain, sleet, fog and 45 mph winds, and we didn't even scratch the surface of what is available! Alaska never ceases to blow my mind. So sit back, relax, and click through a tiny fraction of Southwest Alaska.

My camera battery was blinking red the whole trip, which was nearly disastrous, but I was cautious with my shots and got a couple of good ones.

Matthew Keller is the owner and operator of Blue Ice Aviation. He was born and raised in Alaska, and his office is the cockpit of his Super Cub. His goal is to transport everyone into Alaska's vast wilderness. See more of his videos and writing at Blue Ice Aviation.