Between the mountains

Looking down on the spaces between Denali and the surrounding mountains.

And we're here!

 

Getting closer

And Denali comes into view.

Looking up the Alaska Range on Wikipedia reminded me that Denali, measured base to peak, is the tallest mountain in the world on land. Mount Everest gets half of its elevation from its location on the Tibetan plateau; the actual mountain is 12,000 to 15,000 feet, compared to Denali's 18,000 feet. (Mauna Kea is taller than either one, but it's mostly under water.)

Approaching Denali

After we left the airfield, we flew over tundra approaching the mountains. The Alaska Range is not part of the Rocky Mountains, though both are part of the American Cordillera; it stretches 600 miles across south-central Alaska into the Yukon.

And still more Denali details

Some really fun swoops and pillars of snow.

I think that streak of white in the upper right is a reflection. I was taking all of these pictures through an airplane window, and there was very little room to maneuver and I couldn't always avoid getting the window or parts of the plane in the picture. And, because the cabin wasn't pressurized, I was gasping for air when hoisting the camera around.

Anyway, so very worth it.

More Denali details

These icicles make me think that the mountain has grown teeth.

Denali details

It still amazes me that I actually got in a tiny plane and took a scenic flight around the mountain. And spectacular as it was, I would most likely never do it again. Probably. Well, really it depends.

But even if it was once in a lifetime, getting to see these mountains up close, with details like those whorls of snow or the woody texture of that rock, was incredible.

Denali

This mountain view is of course a little more dramatic.

I posted many pictures of Denali—then still officially Mount McKinley—at the time. But there were at least a hundred pictures from the scenic flight around the mountain that I never got to. Many duplicates and a few duds, but some definitely worth looking at as well.

Saturday reflections birthday do-over

Okay, this is much better.

This is Wonder Lake in Denali National Park in Alaska in 2014, with the namesake mountain there on the right. Alaska is the next stop on the flashback and it's been a lot of fun to go through those pictures. I've been able to visit so many beautiful places in my life, and I am grateful for every one of them.

Now that it's officially Denali

The mountain formerly known as McKinley, as seen from the air a year ago.

Saturday reflections

Regular blogging is hereby resumed, although I will probably be mining the Alaska pictures for some time to come.

Here's another picture from my small plane adventure -- the mountain reflected in the wing of the plane.

Sunrise

We stopped to watch the sun rise on the flanks of Denali. I took pictures, but I like this one best: I rubbed away the condensation on the window and shot the mountain peeking through the blur.

Really, no more after this

Icicles

Obviously there are a lot more pictures I could post, but I'll never get to the rest of Alaska if I don't stop. So here's one last shot, showing some of the details we were able to see being so close to the side of the mountain. A recent thaw had melted some of the snow, which quickly refroze in the form of icicles.

Denali closeup

I was shooting through a small window that I had to be careful not to hit with my camera lens; you can see my red jacket reflected in some of the pictures. I was twisting and stretching and contorting in the little seat, and I was surprised to find myself out of breath, as though taking pictures was an aerobic workout. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that it was the altitude – no pressurization in that tiny cabin, and we were at 10,000 – 12,000 feet.

Wow. Just wow.

I hadn't known just how impressive this mountain is. Measured from base to peak, it's actually much taller than Everest. It erupts out of the tundra at an elevation of only a couple thousand feet, whereas Everest sits on the Tibetan plateau, so it's at an elevation of 13,000 to 17,000 feet before the actual mountain even begins. Denali has two summits, several subpeaks that are sometimes listed as mountains in their own right, and five large glaciers. It also has its own weather system, which is part of the reason it's so often invisible.

Denali again

Denali, seen from the road to the lake.

More Wonder Lake

I could post a dozen more equally stunning views. Click to enlarge.

Wonder Lake

And there it is, the elusive celebrity mountain, Denali, the "High One" in Athabascan. (Everyone uses  "Denali" for the park name but most people seem to use "McKinley" for the mountain. Since McKinley never even saw his namesake mountain -- it was named before he was even elected president, by Alaskans who for some reason liked his support for the gold standard -- I decided I like Denali better.)

The lodge arranged for us to do an abbreviated Wonder Lake hike before our flight. It was, simply, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Serendipity

Change of plans.

There's a board in the main lodge, with signup sheets for all of the available activities for the day. I signed up for the morning hike at Wonder Lake, just down the road in the park. My fellow hikers were  a family of four who were also staying at the lodge. While we waited, they asked the manager if it was still possible to book one of the flights around Mount McKinley.

He checked, and the pilots were willing to do an extra flight over their lunch hour because it was such a spectacular day. "There are four of you? There's still one more seat. Do you know someone else who wants to go?"

Four heads turned simultaneously in my direction. I hadn't even considered doing a flight -- scared of small planes, so not my thing, too expensive, etc., etc., etc. -- but I know when I need to forget all of the reasons to say no and just go for it.

So I said yes.