Talkeetna Camper Park, Talkeetna, AK, USA

Saturday, 20 August 2011
Talkeetna Camper Park, Talkeetna, AK, USA

Hello all, we are now at Talkeetna Camper Park in Talkeetna. Internet access continues to be a challenge. This place has it, and I get a good signal, but it was down yesterday from when we arrived until 8:30 AM yesterday and then went down again at 8:15 PM. It is still down this morning and it seems that the local phone company isn’t real good about getting down lines fixed. Will send this along when I can. We’ve had a good time the past several days, here’s what been happening…

Today, Saturday, we cleaned up, got the blog update mostly done, and are now ready to pack up and head to Eagle River CG, 10 miles northwest of Anchorage. I will tell you about it tomorrow…

Friday, 19 August 2011
Talkeetna Camper Park, Talkeetna, AK, USA

Friday, we were scheduled for a 9:00 AM departure on our flight tour of Denali. We checked in at K2 Air about 8:30 AM and got the report that the landing site on the glacier was covered with fresh snow and hard ice; not good conditions for a landing. We elected to wait for an 11:00 AM departure and see if our luck would improve. While waiting, we drove back into town and looked into the McNally’s store (historic structure, general store and starting point for several notable climbing expeditions on Denali), and walked down the street to the Talkeetna Roadhouse. There we saw a couple of good looking sweet rolls and quiches. We couldn’t resist the sticky bun with pecans, so split one between us. We looked into a couple of other shops and then it was time to head back to the airport and K2.

When we got there, the folks in the office said that conditions on top of the mountain had improved over the past two hours, but that the glacier landing area was still questionable. We put on glacier boots over our shoes and got a safety briefing from the pilot, Chris. Then out to the Otter, a turbine powered 11-place high-wing aircraft. I was fortunate to be able to take the co-pilot’s seat and got both forward and side views, along with the chance to see the instrument panel and Chris at work in his office. After the normal preflight activities, we taxied out to the runway, got takeoff clearance, and away we went into light rain and a mostly solid cloud cover at 7,500 feet.

We flew over the rivers and valley floor headed toward the Denali massif. For the next 45 minutes we wove our way up to the massif, in and out of mountain passes, over glaciers, and past the (highly visible) South summit. We weren’t able to land on the glacier, but the rest of the trip was everything we had hoped for or could expect. Dazzling sun on bright snow, flowing glaciers, dark moraines, sparkling lakes, tumbling waterfalls, it was all there. All too soon, it was time to head back to land at the airport. Pictures cannot do the trip full justice; but I’ve included the best that I was able to get; enjoy...

Lin, ready to go at K2 Aviation, Talkeetna.

Don, ready to go at K2 Aviation, Talkeetna.

Under the clouds, enroute to the Denali Massif.

Coming closer, from the south.

Clouds opening up.

Glaciers & crevasses.

South summit.

South summit.

In closer.

Around to the southwest.

Summit.

Glacier, looking to northeast.

Moving around to the north side.

Sorry, no landing, too much new snow.

Snow and ice on rock!

Coming around to the wall.

Glacier.

Another view.

The wall.

Glacier.

On the way back.

Happy us, after the flight.

We took time during the afternoon to visit the rest of the more interesting shops in town, including the local history museum. There we saw an interesting model of the Denali massif showing 100’ contours, primary climbing routes, glaciers, and other significant features. Then back to the campground for supper and quickly to bed. It was a fine day in Talkeetna.

Thursday, 18 August, 2011
Teklanika CG, Denali National Park, AK, USA

We got up after a good night's sleep at Teklanika CG, packed up, and left about 10:30, in the sunshine (FINALLY!).

Ready to leave Teklanika CG, Denali NP; in the SUNSHINE!

The drive out was really nice, as we could finally see some of the wonderful scenery that we'd missed on three previous passes through this area:

Along the NP Road, on the way out.

Mountains all around, and some sunshine, too.

Rugged slope, braided river; typical topography.

Spires, too.

We stopped at the Denali NP Visitors' Center and took a short look around.  This is a much more modern VC than many we've seen.  It uses plastic models of wildlife in dioramas to show what the natural setting looks like, but we didn't find it particularly effective or worthy of photography.  The drive from Denali south on the George Parks Highway was uneventful.  We arrived Thursday afternoon around 4:00 PM at Talkeetna Camper Park, and got set up there without any difficulties. Later, we drove into town and made a quick car tour to see what’s there, and then back to the trailer for dinner and a good night’s rest.