Fly Denali!

We had already taken one flight into a national park on this trip. You'd think that would be enough. But no .... Several folks had suggested that we had to take a flight over Denali National Park. If we did nothing else, fly over Denali. OK. We had 2 for 1 discount coupons for two different flight services out of Talkeetna AK. Talkeetna is off the Parks Highway south of the park and is actually closer to the peaks and provides a better view than at Denali Village at the park entrance. It is also the jumping off point for most flights for climbers to the summit. We had waited before booking a flight because we wanted to pick a clear day with good weather. When you make your reservation, they take your charge card number and you are committed. As

we left Denali NP, it appeared tomorrow would be a good day, so Dorcas made a call. We first called K2 Aviation because they had been recommended by a friend who has used them in the past. They were booked through July 10. Dang. We then called Talkeetna Aero Services . They could book us at 10:00 tomorrow. Cool! That flight cost a little more, but it was a 2 hr flight vs a 1 1/4 hr flight with K2. We later learned that Talkeetna Aero's plane had twin engines and was equipped with oxygen and could take us near the summit at 20,000 ft vs ~12,000 ft with K2. We lucked into a better choice.

After spending the night on a turnoff near the Talkeetna Spur, we pulled the motor home up to the Talkeetna Aero building at the Talkeetna airport. We got signed up and spent some time talking to folks there. It turns out the son of the owner had raced in the Iditarod. They had used the plane we were flying to transport his dogs back from Nome. They had taken out all the seats and placed the dogs in bags with their heads sticking out so they would be still during the flight. Actually they were probably so trashed they didn't care.



Pilot Dave gave us our flight briefing and off we went. It was a great show. Dave flew us around all the major peaks, glaciers and landmarks. We could see the climbers camp at 7200' on a glacier. The Denali summit had some wispy clouds and was not totally clear, but all the other views were fantastic. Dave gave a great narration and was very knowledgeable of the whole area and its history. He made a point to fly around all the landmarks in both directions so folks on both sides of the plane could get a look. He would then lower the wing to get it out of the way and use it as a pointer.
















After our flight Dorcas and I explored beautiful downtown Talkeetna. It was a glorious day. While Dorcas was shopping I found myself at the Denali Brewing Company sampling some wares. I ended up in the courtyard sitting with a fellow from Washington state who was also traveling in an RV. I mentioned we had just taken a flight to the summit, and I asked if he had ever been. It turns out he had climbed McKinley back in the 70's. He was very interested in our flight because he wanted to take his wife up and show her his route up the mountain. A little later his wife came around, but it seemed she had little interest in taking the flight.

Finally it was time again to continue our journey southward and towards Anchorage.