Denali - From the air

A couple of days after our first good views of the mountain, we had the opportunity to take a flightseeing tour around the mountain.


Taking off

Our first view of the mountain after climbing enough to see over a nearby mountain ridge.

We flew in from the clear northern side.  The clouds from approaching weather were being blocked by the Alaska Range.

The plane flew above the 20,328 ft. high point of the mountain, so part of the flight required use of oxygen.

The highest point, on the left, is the 20,328 ft. South Peak.  Lower North Peak, on the right, is still at 19,470 feet.

Glaciers with heavy rock coverings flowing off the mountain.

Returning back to the airport.

Denali - Part 3

Even more Denali images.

A couple of caribou bulls checking out a female.

The Dall Sheep rams were still hanging out near the road.

This red fox near one of the bus stops was obviously used to people.

A fur rug with legs (and claws and teeth).

The caribou like to use the road for easy travel.  The buses have to slow down and follow until they leave the roadway.

We have heard estimates that only 30% of park visitors see any part of the mountain and as few as 10% see the entire mountain clearly.  On our first visit to the Eielson Visitor's Center, Denali (at far right) was mostly covered.

But a couple of days later, the mountain came out quite nicely.

When we visited Denali in 2005, we also had a few days of very clear weather.  This is one of our favorite images from that trip.

When we knew that the mountain was out, we tried to recreate the 2005 image as closely as possible.

Denali - Part 2

 More Denali images.


This young bull moose wasn't sure about us.

Most of the grizzly bears in Denali are a very light blonde.

A couple of caribou bulls resting.

A pond with several geese.

The bus came upon this porcupine hurrying to get off the road.

That is actually a glacier under the vegetation in the background.

These amazing quilts were on display at the Eielson Visitor's Center.

Another grizzly

Another young bull moose

Female caribou molting her winter coat

We saw this grizzly walking along the river.  It suddenly stopped and proceded to lay down in the water and roll onto its back before getting up and continuing on its way.  Our guess is that it wanted to cool off on a rather sunny day.  As Barbara stated, "All he needed was a bar of soap.".

Denali - Part 1

Denali National Park was one of the places we really wanted to revisit.  The park contains the highest mountain in North America (Denali to the locals and the Alaska state government, or Mount McKinley to the federal government).  The park is also a huge area of wilderness surrounding the Alaska Range of mountains with many different ecological zones and lots of wildlife.  There is only one road into the park and most of that road is closed to most private vehicles.  The park runs a number of shuttle and tour buses along the park road which is the mechanism by which most people see Denali.  Many of the animals have grown accustomed to the buses and the bus drivers are very good about stopping for animal viewing and photography.  Because we were staying at the Teklanika Campground, we could get a bus pass that allowed to ride the shuttle buses all that we wanted (on a space available basis).

Rock Ptarmigan in summer plumage

Caribou bull resting on river bed

There are very colorful rock formation around the area of Polychrome Pass

A panoramic view from Polychrome Pass

We came across a group of Dall Sheep rams very near the road

The moose seemed much more wary of the buses.

This large group of Dall Sheep was visible on a hillside from the Toklat bus stop.

On the next day's bus ride we found the rams still hanging out at the same section of road.