Talkeetna, AK 7/27 to 8/1

On Sunday, the 27th, we left Wasilla and drove to Talkeetna.  It was a beautiful day and along the way, we spotted this (Mt. McKinley) in the distance.

When we got to the town of Willow on the Parks Highway toward Denail, there was a turnoff to get better pictures.  We are about 150 miles from there.

Another shot along the way.

At the turnoff for Talkeetna, we stopped at the visitor center and noticed these toilets.  Appropriate seeing how salmon are such a big part of Alaska!!

We found our CG and got settled in, and, before long a train came thru just behind our CG.  The cruise train with observation cars only.

This is our CG looking back from the train station.

Chris and Bob Risberg went to Anchorage over the weekend and were not going to arrive until Monday so Judy and I went into town for a looksee.

Talkeetna is what I would call an artsy town and very unique.  One of their mottos is:  "Talkeenta - the road stops here and life begins."

Of course, they had a brewery so we had to stop in at the beer garden and have one!

They like their flowers.

On Monday morning at 8:30 Judy and I were scheduled to go on a flight over Mt. McKinley.  We got up, saw that it was overcast and started over to the airport.  Before we got out of the CG, I got a phone call that our flight was being delayed and to come to the airport at 11:30.  So we did, but it was still overcast.  They suggested waiting if possible, or, we could go, but it was not going to be good for viewing the mountain.  So we rescheduled for Tuesday morning, and, when we got up, it was a beautiful morning - perfect for a flight.  

We checked in and were told to go out on the patio and pick out some boots and put them on.  They had six airplanes that would be flying out today at 8:30 AM.  This would be our plane.

Sign says it all (in several languages, that is!).

Plane seats a total of 10 passengers including the pilot.  Judy and I were in the last seats looking forward.  We had the best seats.

Another view of the mountain as we are taking off.

This is a view from the distance showing three major mountains.  Mt. Mckinley (also called Denali) the highest peak in North America (20,320 feet) is on the right.  The middle one is Mt. Hunter at about 14,000 ft, and, the one on the left is Mt. Foraker at about 17,000 ft.  They are all part of the Alaska Mountain Range running some 400 miles.  The mountains act as a high barrier to the flow of moist air from the Gulf of Alaska, and, as a result, has some of the harshest weather in the world.  Temperatures dip as low as -75 degrees with windchill temperatures down to -118 degrees, cold enough to flash freeze a human.

Each year approximately 1,000 climbers attempt to climb and about 50% make it.

Three other planes had landed below us - I only got a picture of this one.  Our pilot continued on because he wanted to land at a new area.

We landed at what is called "Base Camp," at 7,200 ft.  I couldn't get a picture of the exact landing spot, but, it looked something like this.

Skis were lowered so we could land in the snow.

Temp was about 32 degrees - perfect for making snow balls.

Footprints!

Snow Angel!

Snow peaks around us.

Avalanche.

While we were parked, the pilot would turn the propeller several times.  Not sure why.

Five large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain.  The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast, as seen below.  At its beginning, the ice is about 3,000 feet deep.  We followed it out.

Notice pockets of water in the glacier.

A final look back.

Wetlands from the glacier runoff.

View of the airport and the end of our flight.

Judy and I both took pictures - Me with my phone and Judy with her camera. My phone battery died before we even landed at the Base Camp.  Hopefully, you didn't get bored with all the pictures!  It was hard trying to pick out just a few (?) as we have many, many more.