Denali – Round 2

Denali National Park, July 25, 2024

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children” – Native American Proverb

Elizabeth: We stayed in Wasilla, AK after leaving Kotzebue via Alaska Airlines to Anchorage. We rented a car and drove the one hour north to Lake Lucille Bed and Breakfast. Booking.com has it listed as ‘Alaska Lake Lucille’… 9.6 and certainly lived up to its rating. On the lake, flower and vegetable gardens on a good sized lot, very country crafty owner Carol was an amazing homemade hot breakfast buffet cook and accommodating to all seasonal travelers. We got there at 10pm but we spoke with a couple at breakfast who arrived at 2am. Flights can run late, be changed or just get in to Anchorage at all hours. The sun didn’t set until 11pm so our drive from the airport was in full sun. Wished we had scheduled a longer stay there but I’d like to think we may return!

It was a 1.5 hour drive, Wasilla to Talkeetna, the next morning. We used Talkeetna Air to fly to Mount McKinley, Denali National Park. Very well organized and friendly staff. Gary got the “right seat”, co-pilot’s seat! The plane is a 10 seater (not counting the pilot seat but yes counting the co-pilot’s chair). A 1957 De Haviland Otter. The pilot flew completely by navigational instruments more than 1/2 the flight in both directions due to thick cloud cover. Visibility was just about 0 until we reached 7,000 feet. When we climbed to 17,000 feet, closer to the tallest mountain in North America, the majestic Mount McKinley, since 2015 it is back to being called Denali, the now scattered clouds allowed the magnificent sun to shine down on this over 20,000 foot snow covered giant. Talkeetna is at 2,000 feet so the visible part of Denali is 18,000ft!

We flew completely around Denali, not much below its summit, and then descended to land on a glacier at 7,200 feet above sea level. Under our boots were 3,000 feet of ice and snow that has been there for thousands of years! We thought a better day could not have been given to us. Tomorrow’s forecast is for heavy snow on the summit of Denali with -5 F temps, -54 wind chill and 40mph winds!

Upon stepping down onto the glacier we were humbled by nature’s ability to silence any of life’s concerns… in an instant. Today’s landing, for me, was a way to be at Denali’s Basecamp, just for a short time, and appreciate the magnitude of a climber’s desire, efforts and achievement to possibly reach the summit of this mountain.

After returning to Talkeetna Air Taxi’s airport, Gary and I had finally, after 2 previous attempts in 2022, achieved the dream of being in the 30% Club. The locals say that Denali can only be seen about one third of the time. We were so grateful to become a “member” : )

We’ve been to the town of Talkeetna before (March 2022) and we were so glad to be able to stay here again. Last time there was several feet of snow on the ground, upon our arrival, and a new storm dropped an additional 11 inches while we there. Their annual snow fall is about 120 inches. Our friends, Sherry and Craig, Gary and I, back then, bundled up, pulled on our boots and walked around the very quiet town enjoying the lack of any crowds, admiring the huge icicles, roofs that seemed to be just a couple feet from eye level due to the snow and the new blanket of white was picturesque. The frozen river was virtually undetectable from the shoreline and we had one restaurant to choose from. We had taken the train in 2022 but this time Gary and I had a rental car. The temps were in the 60’s, all craft stores, coffee shops, restaurants, ice cream shops and a brewery were all filled with tourists. They were sprawled out on the patios, a guitarist played soft folk music and the dry pavement made for quite a contrast to our last visit here! The small town of about 1,000 residents can be visited by over 200,000 tourists in a year! In the summer, the tourists outnumber the residents on some days. It was fun to see the town flourishing and we always enjoy it’s hip, earthy and nature-based clientele.

Tomorrow we drive back to Anchorage. Meet up with Sherry and Craig again and we’re all off to The Farm Lodge at Lake Clark for a 6 night adventure. Stay tuned for more on this trip!