Talkeetna Air Taxi

After waking up in Anchorage one final time, we’re headed North to uncharted territory on our tour of Alaska. We were all looking forward to some new topography, including Benz, he has peed on every bush/tree from Anchorage to the Kenai and is looking forward to a change.

We rolled out of Anchorage after another Costco run, headed North on highway 1, and thirty miles later we were at the Fairbanks junction and highway 3 North. Our destination for the early afternoon was Talkeetna, which is close to world-class salmon fishing and Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley). Tourists travel to Talkeetna each summer to fish, raft, and go flightseeing. Products from local artists, musicians, and craftspeople are available in area stores.

“The Beaver”

Once in the town of Talkeetna, we found some lunch at the Wild Willow Cafe on Main street. Their specialty, yes, Halibut! We all had the burger…

After lunch Mert and OB perused town, Mert found her Moose charm, OB found some ice cream and I went down and booked a 3-hour flight tour of Mt. McKinley that included a glacier landing. I can’t begin to tell you how incredible it was to land on that glacier with my father (Mert wouldn’t go). The view of Mt. McKinley from the glacier was simply spectacular. We could see base camp (for the climbers) from the air and were able to get close enough to see the color of the tents each climber had.

Mt. McKinley

McKinley has a summit elevation of 20,320 feet (6,194 m) above sea level, making it the highest peak in North America. Measured from base to peak, it is also the world’s tallest mountain on land. McKinley sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from 300 metres (1,000 ft) to 900 metres (3,000 ft), for a base-to-peak height of 5,300 to 5,900 metres (17,000 to 19,000 ft). (Mount Everest, on the other hand, sits atop the Tibetan Plateau at a much higher base elevation. Base elevations for Everest range from 4,200 m (13,800 ft) on the south side to 5,200 m (17,100 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau, for a base-to-peak height in the range of 3,650 to 4,650 metres (12,000 to 15,300 ft). However, McKinley’s base-to-peak height is little more than half that of the 10,200 meters (33,500 ft) of the volcano Mauna Kea, which lies mostly underwater.)

Me and OB on the Glacier

Full View Glacier Landing

Here are a couple of shots of OB and me on the Kahiltna Glacier, just to the South of McKinley. The plane is a DeHavilland Beaver.

Mt. Hunter

Here is a really cool late afternoon shot of Mt. Hunter, just 8 miles south of McKinley.

What a fantastic day, Mert got to shop and OB and I had an awesome adventure with Talkeetna Air Taxi Company! http://www.talkeetnaair.com

I can imagine it getting any better than this…

MM