Hunting Denali (Mt. McKinley)

 When we were in Alaska 10 years ago, we never saw Mt. McKinley in all it's glory. This trip is more than making up for that.

We limped into a campground (more like a parking lot … actually it WAS a parking lot) with a flat tire, and had a great view of the top of the mountain, but just the top.

After the tire was changed, repaired, and recovered, we felt inspired to seek out better views, perhaps of the WHOLE mountain – not just the top. We headed south, stopping at Mary Carey's place. That was worth the trip. Mary Carey established a homestead in the exact spot that many people argue is the very best reasonably accessible view of Denali. She was an author, publishing many books about her Alaska life. She was a strong proponent for construction of roads that would allow visitors to see Denali mountain. Her family still owns the property.

So what's the big deal about Danali (Mount McKinley) ??

It's the tallest peak in North America at an elevation of 20,320. What makes it particularly dramatic, is that one can view nearly the entire mountain, from top to bottom when viewing from a height of about 375 feet (in Talkeetna). The extreme and entire verticality, all in one view, is quite impressive. The word Denali means 'the High one' in native Athabascan Indian language. McKinley had no connection to the mountain. There are complex (mostly federal) issues that have blocked returning the official name of the mountain to Denali.

The first officially documented assent was in 1913. Today, about 1200 per year attempt the assent, flying into base camp at 7200 feet, and slightly more than half complete the assent. The trek takes about 3 weeks from that point. There are a few climbing deaths per year.
The mountain is still growing, at about the same rate as a fingernail grows.The Chulitna River is green from spring glacial melt that carries large quantities of silt.

Near Mary Carey's place we set up camp, and enjoyed an evening with the mountain.

We continued south, having lunch on the balcony of the hotel where we stayed 10 years earlier. Again … MAGNIFICANT views and afternoon. As we sat there, planes that take 'around the mountain ' tours were landing. Seemed like it might be fun to try one of these. So, off to Talkeetna we went. 

Talkeetna (population 800) is an artsy funky town that serves as a base camp for hiking, mountain climbing and fishing expeditions. We like Talkeetna, spending the afternoon cruising the town, eating a string of appetizers at a local pub, then returning to the camper to charge camera batteries for our scheduled flight-see the next morning with K2 Aviation.

Right in our backyard at the campground.

The decision for a flight tour of Denali and the surrounding mountains turned out to be one of the clearest, calmest flying days they've ever seen. And we LOVED the tour .

Feast your eyes: