We had such a great bus trip yesterday, viewing Denali and other mountains all the way to Kantishna and back. We knew from experience what a rare event that was. So when today was cloudless and crystal clear, we decided to put our plans into action – a trip by plane to Denali. We paired up with Jenks Jenkins (#16) on a noon flight from the Healy, AK airport on Fly Denali, Inc. We really didn’t know what to expect from this flight. They told us we’d be landing on a glacier on Mt. McKinley, something that sounded dangerous and odd. But we were all game. The final passenger on the flight was a hotel management intern who was given a free flight. Our pilot was Rob.
Up in the air we went. It was a smooth ride looking down on the shopping area of the community of Denali Park and then over the roads we’d taken the day before and the Polychrome Mountains. Quickly the terrain became extremely rugged. At first the glaciers were dark gray, covered with silt and ash from the latest Aleutian volcano. Soon, however, they were snowy white, and the glacial movement was plain to see. We flew within 4 ½ miles of the Denali summit, although we were flying at 10,500 ft, well below the summit height. Distance was very hard to judge, everything looking so close. We flew over many glaciers and finally the Ruth Glacier and the Great Gorge, which, if drained of its snow and ice, would be deeper than the Grand Canyon (it is the world’s deepest gorge). The pilot told us we were going to land and Gary asked where. He pointed to a tiny dot below and said, “right next to that plane.”
Our landing was on skids and relatively smooth. We all got out of the plane and posed for pictures and stood in awe of the landscape. It was very comfortable with light jackets. Our intern passenger was in shorts and a t-shirt! The pilot pointed out landmarks and told us the impossible distances they were from us. We were on Denali, but 12 miles from the south summit that seemed so close. The pilot showed us an outhouse and rooftop on the ridge above us and told us a pilot had homesteaded way up here in the 1950’s. His family still retains the homestead, and to spite the Park Service, rents it out. It is rented through 2012.
All too quickly it was time to go back. We got the same great views on the return trip. What an experience. We’ll never forget.
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