The skies started cloudy and chilly and rainy in the Kenai Peninsula, but we were headed north, and due to spend a fair amount of the day in the van so it didn’t much matter. We gathered at 7:30AM, stopped for coffee (good coffee for those who cared), at a cute spot in town before pointing the van north and getting on the road. We had many miles to cover as we headed into the interior and the second part of our adventure, nearer to Denali.
Our guides are really good at finding nice spots along the way for both bio breaks, and for a lovely picnic lunch alongside the Eagle River. We learned some Alaskan lore along the way, most notably about Alaska Nellie. She was a frontier woman, hunter and inn keeper, and lived larger than life even for Alaska. (See link below for her story; we were told it as we passed by the area where she had established her roadhouse along Kenai Lake). https://www.adn.com/commentary/article/alaska-nellie-one-kind-alaskan-needs-respectful-resting-place/2014/08/24/
The landscape we passed changed a bit, although there were always mountains and peaks in the distance. Mostly I was taken by the ghost trees, a remnant of the 1964 earthquake which shook southwest Alaska. At 9.2 magnitude, it permanently altered the landscape around Anchorage, with some areas around the Turnagain Arm dropping about 8ft. The trees absorbed the salt water in their root systems and died, but still stand. And they are not permitted to be cut down, as they are a testament to the earthquake and tsunami that killed 139 people.
Before we got to Anchorage we stopped at the Wildlife Viewing Trail, which had a section where you could see salmon swimming upstream by the scores, as well as birds and other wildlife. We did have the chance for a little hike — 3.5 miles around a lovely lake — after 5 hours in the van, it was a welcome bit of leg stretching. After lunch we arrived in Talkeetna, which is the town where anyone hoping to climb Denali starts his or her adventure. It has the vibe of a place where people come and stay as they plan their Denali explorations. Our main activity for the afternoon, if we so chose, was a flight tour up into the mountains of the Alaska range, including Denali, with the hope that the elusive top peak would be available to us.
At K2 Aviation we boarded a Piper Chieftan built in the 80’s, with Billy from Massachusetts as our pilot. It was a 75 minute tour for 7 of us, and it was simply amazing. Denali stands at 20,310 feet, and is surrounded by other 14-18,000 ft peaks, and numerous glaciers. There are sections which many call the Little Alps, because the sharp peaks remind them of those in Switzerland. The longest glacier, Kahiltna, is 45 miles long and 3 miles across. While I did get some photos, the scale and the perspective is so difficult to get, even from 15,000 feet up. It was spectacular, and awe inspiring and jaw-dropping. And a one in a lifetime sort of experience.
Tonight we are staying at the Talkeetna Overlook Lodge, sort of a large B&B, with the most astounding views of the mountains in the distance, an evergreen forest just below and a silver river at the bottom. A family style dinner and a fire pit with a view completed the evening.
