Alaska: Day 12 (16 Jun 09)

We headed south from Fairbanks, hoping for a view of Denali (aka Mount McKinley). It was too cloudy, of course (I think Denali is hidden something like 364 days a year). In order to get a looksee, we rode into Talkeetna and chartered a private plane. We opted for one equiped with oxygen, so that we could fly over the summit. Our pilot was Dave and he was awesome -- knew everything imaginable about the area, glaciers, etc.

Me, Danny, and pilot Dave beside Dave's twin engine Piper.


Glacier ... just a big, slow-moving river of ice. I think this puppy is several miles wide.

Our first view of Denali, "The High One."

The landscape is breath-taking. Beautiful, just beautiful.

Converging glaciers.

We were fortunate enough to fly over just as two climbers reached the summit of Denali. It takes two weeks to acclimate and climb the mountain, and we flew over just as they completed their climb. You can see two climbers on the peak in the photo above -- there were a half dozen others below in an area called (I think I'm remembering this correctly) the ballfield, waiting to ascend the last leg. Can't see the two above? I'll zoom in for you.

There they are.

More views. I must have snapped hundreds of Denali, the surrounding peaks, and the amazing landscape

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Cobalt blue pools of glacial melt sparkled on the icefields below us.

After our plane adventure, we continued south through Anchorage and down to the Portage Glacier. It was raining on us, of course (seems we've had rain every day). We rode through the Whittier Tunnel and found a room at the Anchor Inn. Tomorrow, we'll be catching the ferry across Prince William Sound to Valdez.

Bergy bits (that's an honest-to-gawd technical term for iceberg fragments, believe it or not) adrift near Portage.

Danny nearing the Whittier Tunnel.

And here he is nearing the exit. The tunnel is something like 7 miles long and you ride between the railroad tracks. Steer clear of the rails, because they will likely throw you down. I didn't find it particularly nerve-wracking, but there was a Goldwing rider coming through behind us who was absolutely terrified. Once through, he asked me about the ferry, saying that he didn't think he could handle riding back through the tunnel. Changed his mind, though, when I told him that the ferry cost $164 for bike and rider. LOL.