Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Flight Around Denali

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Our flight around Denali National Park last Saturday was postponed due to rain. Today is sunny, clear, and nothing short of spectacular.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Just clearing the runway, the first thing we see is the Talkeetna Wilderness Lodge where we had lunch earlier. The views from the lodge are beautiful on a clear day.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
As the plane banks, a partial view of the Talkeetna River through the window. I should add that all these photos are taken through the Plexiglas windows of the Piper Cherokee 6 with a 300hp Lycoming engine. It's a miracle any of these photos turned out given the glare off the Plexiglas, glare from the white clouds, sun and lastly snow. It proves quite a challenge!

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
About 500' off the ground, the Alaska Range, our destination, comes into view.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
A peek through the front window as we draw closer.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
The wing partially obscures our view of one of the thousands of glaciers in Alaska.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
A view of the descending glacier flowing towards the valley floor along with a few foothills.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
As the plane turns, another view of the twisting glacier and foothills.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Here you can see we are climbing higher and higher, evident by the difference from the views out each side of the plane. We will eventually climb to about 12,300' to safely clear the pass and circle the backside of Mt. McKinley.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
As we continue to circle various peaks, this last photo above shows the dramatic ice formations and blue color of the glacial ice.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
It seems each minute of flight brings continuously more awesome scenery.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
With Bob sitting in the co-pilot's seat and me in back, Bob has the advantage of seeing Mt. McKinley from the beginning. I have the better seat for photography, but have to wait until the Pilot turns the plane so I can get a view suitable for a photograph. Patience!

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Mt. McKinley is still out of my sight, but these other peaks are just as beautiful, and I believe 3 or 4 of these hover around 18,000'.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
At this point, I can say with certainty that everyone has forgotten whatever was on our minds earlier. The beauty of this place is simply mind-boggling!

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
By now, everyone in the plane (5 of us in total) is nearly speechless, and this is the 5th run of the day for Dale, our pilot.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
The two speaks on the right of the middle photo are planes on skis which haul climbers and their gear to the base camp at about the 7,500' elevation. The tracks on the last photo above show the trail the climbers are using.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
In the middle photo above, our prize finally comes into view. There are so many peaks and mountains that telling which one is which becomes quite the challenge. One has to wonder how many really pristine places such as this remain unspoiled on our earth.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Now at a lower altitude, we see crystal clear lakes and on this last shot, a picture of a float plane making a landing.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
It seems we follow the path of this glacier down towards Talkeetna.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Mountain ranges seem endless in this part of the world. In the lower 48, we have the coastal range, the Sierra Nevada's and the Great Rocky Mountains, and then a few bumps and hills in the east. In Alaska, you see mountains out of every window in any direction. Amazing.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Finally, a good shot of Mt. McKinley. It is truly a spectacular sight along with the entire Alaska Range. At 20,320' tall, Mt. McKinley can even be seen from Anchorage and beyond on a clear day. You would think this mountaintop would be a lot easier to photograph up close. I found just the opposite to be true.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
This is the headwaters of the Talkeetna River. The following two photos show the river as it winds it's way towards the town of Talkeetna.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog

With only 30% of visitors seeing a partial view of Mt. McKinley on any given day (the mountain creates its own weather and is usually in clouds), we were exceptionally fortunate to be in the 5% group that saw the entire mountain. The hour and half trip couldn't have been better as evident in Bob's grin and big thumbs up. The last photo shows the entire group of us on board.

From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
From Flight around Mt. McKinley Blog
Bob and I completely agreed it was the best flight of our lives, and absolutely one of the highlights of our lives. How do you beat this?

For further information: Denali National Park
Want more photos? Go to our web album: Flight around Denali

2 comments:

Jim and Sandie said...

Your pictures totally took my breath away. So very very beautiful.

ArizonaBird said...

Absolutely awsome photos. I love how each traveler has their own experience and impressions. We've been following Wolcott's blog as well. And then there's ours, too. Have a safe remainder of the trip.
Carol Vyrostek