Day 1- Friday: We were postponed leaving Talkeetna due to weather. The TAT had their offices and hanger and bunkhouse across the road and hostel-type accommodations across the street/RR. When we woke, it was drizzling and overcast w/a low ceiling.
We had break at the Roadhouse and called TAT at 7:00am. We finally left Talkeetna at 11:45 and landed at KIA at 12:15pm.
The flight in on the Havilland Otter was breathtaking and even that doesn’t describe it.
I felt like a little kid marveling at all the neat animals at the zoo! I was ecstatic beyond words looking at the mosquito and bear infested marshes. I can see why Dr. Cook said any expedition to McKinley is a maritime endeavor.
The glaciers and lower snow-capped peaks, my God! It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The ridges are all snow and serac. Ice covered knives and bergschrunds that would swallow an RV. And the real gem…Denali.
It completely silenced me in awe and dare I say, fear. The sheer vertical rise it lords over the rest of the Alaskan Range is impossible to understand until one sees it for themselves. It left me speechless. I looked over at Dan. I don’t know which was bigger, my eyes or my mouth. The severity of the trip finally hit home.
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/523722/Denali-2009-Summit-Bound-with-a-bunch-of-Nachos-.htmlWe had break at the Roadhouse and called TAT at 7:00am. We finally left Talkeetna at 11:45 and landed at KIA at 12:15pm.
The flight in on the Havilland Otter was breathtaking and even that doesn’t describe it.
I felt like a little kid marveling at all the neat animals at the zoo! I was ecstatic beyond words looking at the mosquito and bear infested marshes. I can see why Dr. Cook said any expedition to McKinley is a maritime endeavor.
The glaciers and lower snow-capped peaks, my God! It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The ridges are all snow and serac. Ice covered knives and bergschrunds that would swallow an RV. And the real gem…Denali.
It completely silenced me in awe and dare I say, fear. The sheer vertical rise it lords over the rest of the Alaskan Range is impossible to understand until one sees it for themselves. It left me speechless. I looked over at Dan. I don’t know which was bigger, my eyes or my mouth. The severity of the trip finally hit home.
posted by Bill's friends
