By Happenstance: Walter's Story

Walter didn't set out to become a bush pilot. He spent his youngest years playing in the orchards of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley before his family moved to a rough piece of land on Vancouver Island, where childhood was quickly replaced by responsibility. Hard work shaped him early, steady and dependable – qualities that led him toward a respectable, predictable career as a teacher. But something didn't fit. Drawn by a small newspaper advertisement and a sense that life held more, Walter took an introductory flying lesson – and was immediately hooked. From that first half-hour in the air, his path began to take shape. It would carry him into the vast and rugged landscapes of Canada's North, where he flew for larger-than-life characters and learned, day by day, what it meant to rely on skill, instinct, and, at times, divine intervention in terrain both beautiful and unforgiving.Walter's Story is one half of the By Happenstance stories.