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Denali National Park and Preserve
was the focus of this segment. I took a flight-seeing trip into the park from
Talkeetna, then rode up to the Park Headquarters and took one of the
shuttle busses back into the park.
Day 18 - Monday, June 18
- Talkeetna
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Today was to be a
mountain top experience - well, almost. I investigated the possibility
of a flight seeing tour and was able to ride along as Hudson Air Service
transported several climbers up to base camp. Here we are Hudson Air's
hanger. Andreas, from Columbia, is on the left, and Dan is on the right.
Both had just guided climbs of Mt. McKinley and were now taking a week
to do a climb of their own. |
| Here we are on our
way to base camp. Mt. McKinley is the peak that is jutting above the
clouds - this is the east face. "The mountain," as they call it,
is 20,320 feet high and is visible only 1 of 3 days out of the year. We
had to wait until late afternoon for the visibility to improve enough to
make the flight. |
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We're a little
closer, here, and are flying over a glacier. |
| I think this is Ruth
Glacier - the deepest glacier in the world - about 2,000 to 3,000 feet
thick. |
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Another glacier.
I'm sorry I can't remember the names of all of them. After a while they
all looked the same to me but Jock, our pilot, knew them all. |
| We landed on
Kahiltna Glacier, 40 miles long in all at 7,000 elevation. The
landing was pretty rough and bouncy, but eventually we settled onto the
glacier and got the plane turned around, ready to take off again. It was
rather balmy, and the snow on top of the glacier was wet. |
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Andreas and Dan
were excited. I thought they'd be tired of climbing mountains, but when
they explained they didn't have to look after anyone, could go as fast
as they want, do more technical climbs, etc. I understood. They were
both very nice young men and, as you can see, in peak physical
condition. They both downed dishes of ice cream before we left the
hanger to try to put on some of the weight they had lost on their recent
guiding climbs. |
| This is the base
camp from which climbers usually begin their climb of Mt. McKinley. The
mountain is in the background - we are looking at the south face here.
The climbers in the picture had just arrived before us and were setting
up their camp. |
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The take-off was a
little up and down also, and as we crested a little rise in the glacier
we got airborne! Here the pass on the usual route back to the hanger was
fogged in so we had to try the next one. |
| We
finally found a pass clear enough to go through and made it back in fine
shape! This was an exhilarating and awe-inspiring trip. I had complete
confidence in Jock, who had piloted in these mountains for 20 years.
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I ate breakfast
the next morning here at the Boarding House on main street Talkeetna.
They had wireless service and I spent several hours updating my website. |
Day 19 - Tuesday, June 19
- Denali National Park
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Thinking I had already had optimal viewing conditions for Mt. McKinley
yesterday, I wasn't expecting to see even more stunning views.
But on my way from Talkeetna north to Denali Park I pulled into the
South Viewpoint area and saw this breath-taking sight.
The sky was almost cloudless at this point, and the mid-morning sun
illuminated the mountain in all it's grandeur.
The mountain is about 35 miles northwest from where I took this photo.
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| This photo shows
the size of the mountain in relation to the surrounding peaks. The next
tallest peak to the left of McKinley is Mt. Hunter, I believe, which is
14,573 feet high. This is the peak that Andreas and Dan, whom we
dropped off at base camp yesterday, were planning to climb. From a
distance Mt. McKinley simply dominates the Alaska Range of mountains. |
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During my ride
today I would occasionally get a view of Mt. McKinley as I crested a
hill or rounded a bend in the highway. It was an awesome ride -
unforgettable!
Before I stopped for the night I got a
ticket for the park shuttle bus for tomorrow that would take me 26 miles
into the back country on Park Road. |
Day 20 - Wednesday, June
20
- Denali National Park
Denali National Park and
Preserve includes 6 million acres of land - 9,492 square miles - an area larger
than the State of Massachusetts. The park includes Mt. McKinley, the tallest
peak in North America. Much of the park is wild and in its natural state, and is
managed to maintain this wilderness character. Vehicular access to the back
country is restricted to park busses, which were provided beginning in the
1930's.
We left on the
shuttle at 7:30 a.m. today, and before long we had this view of Mt.
McKinley. This is the northeast face of the mountain. We would be
getting closer later in the day, but the clouds moved in and we weren't
able to see the mountain at all. Because of its height, Mt. McKinley
makes its own weather. Temperatures can fall to -95F (actual, not wind
chill), and winds can get as high as 150 mph.
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I was so oriented
to looking at mountains and animals that I nearly overlooked the small
things. Here are some bluebells near one of our stops, with a bee
looking for breakfast. |
| Here are some
beautiful fireweed flowers. |
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Mainly, we kept on
the lookout for animals. The Park is maintained in its natural state,
except for the Park Road that goes deep back into the park. We had to be
very quiet on the busses and not hang out the windows when we spotted
animals, so they would not become habituated to humans. They basically
ignore the busses, so visitors like me get to see the animals in their
natural habitat and normal behavior. This is a caribou, of which there
are many in the park. This one appears to be a fairly large male. |
| For some reason we
were all most interested in seeing grizzly bears. We spotted five
on the 8-hour trip, including these two that were trying to keep cool by
snoozing on a pile of snow. Rear ends, here. The other grizzlies were
much further away, but were more active. |
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This moose was
close to the road, but again we got the rear end view. We also saw a
fox, many doll sheep, and a Gyrfalcon, but they were all too far away
for me to photograph. |
| I stopped at the
Murie Science and Learning Center to see the cast of the dinosaur
footprint that was discovered in the Park. This came from a Theropod
that lived a few million years ago! |
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We saw several
braided rivers today. These rivers carry off the water from the ice melt
from receding glaciers. The park remains largely in
its natural state, much as it was when the Athabascans lived in the
area. |
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