Denali Air Views of Mt. McKinley

My brother-in-law's cabin is next to the airstrip of Denali Air. We took their hour long flight around Mt. McKinley.

The pilot circled the mountain and we glimpsed climbers.

Below is not McKinley but it gives a good idea of how a mountain actually creates its own weather, which McKinley does.

Kantishna, Denali National Park, Alaska

Vehicles are restricted in nearly all of Denali National Park so my sister and I took a bus journey to Katnishna, some 93 miles into the park. On the way we had another surprise view of Mt. McKinley. The weather deteriorated as the day went on.

It was on this bus trip that I really gathered a sense of the vastness of the park. It was a twelve hour adventure (speed limit 25 mph with various stops).

The park is larger than Massachusetts.

There are a few lodges within the park as those properties were privately owned before that territory was added.

We saw glaciers.

We saw rivers.

At the Eielson Visitor Center, the chances of seeing Mt. McKinley are so slim its location is etched in a view window so you know what you are missing.

The vastness of the park was evident as we neared the end of the road.

And quite a road it is.

Mt. McKinley Closest Views

As we continued north, the clouds cleared a little.

This would be my closest view of the mountain from land, about 40 miles.

Mt. McKinley First Views

I flew to Anchorage on June 16 and boarded the Denali Star RR the next morning. My sister and I were heading to Denali Park. These were the first views I had of McKinley, the south side.

I was excited. Some people spend a week in the area and never see the mountain at all. Little did I know I would have many amazing views of the mountain in the following days.