Alaska-Parks Highway- Talkeetna
June 23 Sunday continued: Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning! Gary
called Sheldon Air to confirm our reservations on a flight over
Denali. Our reservations were for Sunday, however, Sheldon Air said
if we could be there today the weather would be perfect for the
flight as rain was in the forecast for Sunday. So we gathered up
everything and headed for Talkeetna. On the way, we saw a moose
and it's calf!!
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| Reid enjoying the view and snapping pictures |
We arrived about 2:30 which was just in time to catch a 3pm flight.
Our pilot, Jok, wearing an Hawaiian shirt, met us and helped us into a
Cessna 185 with skis as we would be landing on a glacier. I was a
little fearful, but my desire to take the flight won out and all four
of us boarded, put on our headsets and took off. The 2 hour flight
was amazing! We easily saw the top of McKinley and considering only
about 20% of tourists to the park ever get to see it because of the
weather we were so lucky! We entered the mountains through The Great Gorge of Ruth Glacier and flew to a height of 12,000 ft. viewing many
mountains such as Mt. McKinley, Hunter, Broken Tooth, Moose's Tooth, Huntington, S.
Buttress, E. Buttress Mt. Deception, and Mt. Eldridge.
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| Great Gorge of Ruth Glacier & view of Mt. McKinley |
We landed on
Eldridge Glacier. We snapped so many pictures with our camera and
Reid's cell phone that we had a hard time choosing just a few for the blog. Once on the glacier we saw several small
avalanches and a base camp for hikers.
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| On Eldridge Glacier |
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| Base camp of climbers on Eldridge glacier |
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| Gage being dwarfed by mountains on Eldridge glacier |
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| Jok, our pilot in his Hawaiian shirt |
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| Gage enjoying the view |
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| Leaving Eldridge |
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| Landing at Talkeetna Airport |
After our flight we went into Talkeetna,this is the town which the show Northern
Exposure” was supposedly based on. We stopped at the visitor's
center and Vito gave us lots of good information including a great
restaurant to have dinner, Wildflower. The chef there was President
Bush's (George W.) personal chef. The guys had the best clam chowder
ever!
It looks like so much fun! Glad to see you took the boys to a place with 40 types of beer on tap; I expect them to come home connoisseurs :)
ReplyDeleteThey look so happy; I'm so glad they are getting this opportunity!
Ang
What an experience for you AND the boys.
ReplyDeleteGary & Liz, What awesome pictures! You all look so excited and happy. By the way those are 2 handsome young men you have with you. Gary, I have to agree with MJ you do look 10 yrs younger without all that pall stress LOL. Thanks for taking all of us on this trip with you! Enjoy Connie
ReplyDeleteConnie, Good to hear from you. I hope all is well with you family. The plane ride was stunning. You can't imagine how huge the mountains are and landing on the glacier so cool. We are enjoying our selves. Gary R
DeleteIsn't it amazing how airplanes are basically equated with cars in Alaska? And isn't it fun standing on a glacier in nothing but a sweater or long-sleeved shirt? You'd think you'd be freezing.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to ask Marc about some of his ascents on McKinley when he was a mountain guide and rescue team member. He's got some real interesting stories to share. The boys will like them.
Still jealous, but glad you're all having such a wonderful time. Carol :o)
Breathtaking, what an amazing place! You all look so happy and relaxed.
ReplyDeleteLaurie
God sure is smiling on you Gary.The most beautiful place in the world with your family AND G.W's personel chef.WOW!!! MJ
ReplyDelete