K2 Aviation takes folks on flightseeing tours of Mt. McKinley. If the weather cooperates they will even do a glacier landing so that you can stand on part of the mountain, the Ruth Glacier. They take you up there in these:
Small planes equipped with both wheels and skis. Tyler had never been in a small plane before so we told him this was one more thing he could check off his list. We were trying to surprise him but he told us he was kind of tipped off when everyplace in Talkeetna talked about McKinley, flightseeing, or both -- he's a clever one that Tyler!
Here is Tyler in the co-pilot seat. We flew in a De Havilland Beaver, there were six total including our fabulous pilot Chuck. We were also joined by a very nice couple from New York City who were excited to be in Alaska.
Dave enjoys small planes, so he was pretty excited to be flying in one. When Dave first came to Alaska he worked out in King Salmon which afforded him the opportunity to fly in small planes a lot, but he hasn't gotten to ride in one for awhile so this was a real treat for him. The weather was changing as we were taking off and so we weren't certain of what we were going to see or if we'd be able to do a glacier landing, Chuck hadn't been able to land on the glacier so far today, so we were just in a holding pattern on that part of our journey.
We took off and left Talkeetna and the Susitna Valley behind. As you can see there was a lot of sun, but there was also a lot of clouds. And what were we hoping for? Well, this:
Mt. McKinley, North America's tallest peak at 20,320 feet. Chuck also told us that McKinley has more vertical rise than Mt. Everest, the world's tallest peak. This is because the base of McKinley, for climbing, starts much closer to sea level than the climbing base on Everest. So, if you were to climb both mountains you will do more climbing on McKinley to reach the summit than you would on Everest. Pretty darn impressive. As we approached McKinley the peak was blocked by clouds, but then Chuck turned the plane and the clouds parted, and there it was. It was absolutely amazing!
Not only did we get great views of McKinley, got great views of the three tallest peaks in the park. This was my view out the front, along with our great pilot Chuck, from left to right we are looking at Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and Mt. McKinley. The photo is great but it really doesn't do the experience justice.
We then flew up the Great Gorge towards the Don Sheldon Amphitheater on Ruth Glacier where we would land if we could. As we continued to fly the clouds seemed to be breaking up and Chuck thought we might be able to land.
As we flew over the glacier we saw these bright blue pools of water. The water is super oxidized, which creates the bright blue color.
As we flew up the gorge we passed by all these craggy, rocky outcroppings from the ice. All the rocks have the scars of having had the glacier scrape across them, it is amazing to think about the power of ice and water. Also, in a small plane they appear a lot closer to the plane than they apparently were. I tried to pick a picture that shows the enormity of it all, but as I said the photos don't fully explain it. Maybe if it was on a GIANT screen it would. We took over 300 photos today, and there aren't too many that I would want to discard.
We were able to land on Ruth Glacier! Here are myself, Tyler, and Dave standing on the glacier with another plane (not ours) and some of the surrounding rocks of the Don Sheldon Amphitheater. I'm no mountaineer, I will probably never attempt to climb McKinley, I really have no desire to. So, standing on this glacier on this part of the mountain is the closest I'll probably ever come. I love that I can say that I was on the mountain at all! And I'm so happy the weather turned out so nice for Tyler! Our flight was smooth back to Talkeetna, filled with more wonderful views, we talked about it for the entire drive back to Anchorage. It really was the best day ever!
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