A dream of a lifetime came to fruition in July when I made my way from the east coast to the west, and no I don’t mean California. I finally made it to Alaska, the last frontier, and everything was astounding. The wildlife was everywhere, the humanity was quite limited overall thankfully, and the views were out of this world in each and every place I explored. I started in Anchorage as most do, toured around Kenai peninsula, loved Kenai Fjords National Park by far the most, then I headed north to Denali before going east to Wrangell-St. Elias, and finished with a riveting cruise out of Valdez.
When I made it to Denali, the mountains were nowhere to be seen. I heard that 1/4 or less of visitors get to see the mysterious lady they call Mount Denali, because it’s so damn big it makes its own weather. Veiled by clouds, the great temptress was feeling moody for the 3 days I was in the area, and even though I journeyed to the very end of the bus transit route and hiked 13 miles back before hopping back on, I never saw her. Not once.
I had planned to see Denali in the most unique way possible, by air via Talkeetna Air who offer several amazing trips over and around the park. I was setup to take the Grand Denali with Glacier Landing Tour but the weather was much too turbulent to make it up. The folks at Talkeetna Air were lovely and supportive, mentioning that it happens all the time, and they rebooked me three times before I could finally make it in the air a week later and a day before I flew back out from Anchorage.
But let me tell you. My nerves were a mess when it came time to take off in a tiny 10-person plane. I have never felt nauseous in a plane and always chuckled at the barf bags supplied in front of every seat, but this tiny plane almost had me there. After becoming a father, my nerves tend to intertwine during dangerous activities, making me feel uneasy the farther I go away from my son, or during the more adventurous of experiences, like when I went whitewater rafting on class fives. But once we reached the giant foothill mountains that still reached 14,000 ft, I began to relax and I wasn’t so queasy anymore.
The pilot took us up and around the southern side of Mount Denali, around to her north side before taking us in front of the mountain, where he lowered us down and in dramatic fashion, we landed on a glacier. Now, it was recommended to bring sunglasses with me, but I forgot to grab them out of my rental car before taking off, and so I was instantly blinded and tears were rushing to my eyes the whole time. I could all but squint at the amazing scene you can see below. It was a truly unique experience to fly around a 20,000 foot monster of a mountain, the biggest in North America, then land on an ancient glacier, but my favorite was flying above the many rugged peaks and to see the ice fields so gracefully escape toward low land.
My entire experience with Talkeetna Air was a blast, and they have it going on from start to finish, because the people were nice, the pilot was fun and the whole ordeal was like none other. There’s no other way to experience Denali than by air, because nothing compares. A little tip, if you decide to take a flight over Denali, sit in the back so you can get photos without the wings!
I had planned to see Denali in the most unique way possible, by air via Talkeetna Air who offer several amazing trips over and around the park. I was setup to take the Grand Denali with Glacier Landing Tour but the weather was much too turbulent to make it up. The folks at Talkeetna Air were lovely and supportive, mentioning that it happens all the time, and they rebooked me three times before I could finally make it in the air a week later and a day before I flew back out from Anchorage.
But let me tell you. My nerves were a mess when it came time to take off in a tiny 10-person plane. I have never felt nauseous in a plane and always chuckled at the barf bags supplied in front of every seat, but this tiny plane almost had me there. After becoming a father, my nerves tend to intertwine during dangerous activities, making me feel uneasy the farther I go away from my son, or during the more adventurous of experiences, like when I went whitewater rafting on class fives. But once we reached the giant foothill mountains that still reached 14,000 ft, I began to relax and I wasn’t so queasy anymore.
The pilot took us up and around the southern side of Mount Denali, around to her north side before taking us in front of the mountain, where he lowered us down and in dramatic fashion, we landed on a glacier. Now, it was recommended to bring sunglasses with me, but I forgot to grab them out of my rental car before taking off, and so I was instantly blinded and tears were rushing to my eyes the whole time. I could all but squint at the amazing scene you can see below. It was a truly unique experience to fly around a 20,000 foot monster of a mountain, the biggest in North America, then land on an ancient glacier, but my favorite was flying above the many rugged peaks and to see the ice fields so gracefully escape toward low land.
My entire experience with Talkeetna Air was a blast, and they have it going on from start to finish, because the people were nice, the pilot was fun and the whole ordeal was like none other. There’s no other way to experience Denali than by air, because nothing compares. A little tip, if you decide to take a flight over Denali, sit in the back so you can get photos without the wings!
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