Northern Exposure

32 degrees on August 10th. Something incongruent about that. December 10th might make more sense, but then again, we are in the north country. Our destination today will be Anchorage, the most populous city in Alaska. We left camp at 7:30, heading south on Alaska Highway 3.

The air is so clear and the sky so cloudless, we are treated to a continuous spectacle of Mt. McKinley and the Denali Range as we head south. This is a rarity in Alaska, where it is not uncommon to have multiple cloudy days. We had been blessed with a beautiful day yesterday as we took the tour bus within the park. How could we be so lucky to have a second day? The trip we thought might take three hours, is now going to take considerably longer. We have to stop repeatedly and savor the gorgeous vistas. Along the way to Anchorage, we plan to stop in Talkeetna. Talkeetna is located fourteen miles off the main highway and the local folks like it that way. The spur road dead-ends in their town of 863 inhabitants. In the summer, this close-knit community swells with international visitors, all seeking to climb Mt. McKinley. Talkeetna is the most popular launching point for hiking expeditions to McKinley. It is also a haven for “flightseeing”. Highly skilled bush pilots are contracted to take visitors to the peaks. Some even land on glaciers.

Do you remember the show, “Northern Exposure”? Supposedly, the show was based on the life and times of Talkeetna. This town enjoys itself. To keep themselves entertained in the winter, they hold a Wilderness Women’s Contest and a Bachelor Auction. In the summer, they host the Moose Dropping Festival. Shellacked and numbered moose poop is hauled up in the air in a net and then dropped on a bulls-eye. Raffle numbers correspond to numbers on moose poop. They have their own radio station, KNTA, and residents can have their own gig. One can hear opera to twangy western music all in the same morning.

We arrive in Talkeetna, planning to walk the streets, talk to the local shop owners and maybe catch a bite to eat. It doesn’t take very long to peruse the shops, check out the menus (lots of wild game choices) and chat with a few local folks. While in a small shop, we saw that they also were advertising flight tours. Let’s see, today is an absolutely perfect weather day. There are no clouds, and sky is blue and the winds are calm. Should we? Naw, too expensive. Expensive? We’ve already spent over $1,000 on diesel fuel to drive here. We probably won’t be back again. Let’s check the flight times. They have availability for a 2:30 PM Summit Flight. This tour takes you over and around the mountains and glaciers. You have to wear oxygen masks when you get to 10,000 feet. We look at each other and take the plunge. Rarely are we impulsive, but this is the trip of a lifetime. We drop the 500 bucks (that’s with an AARP discount) and book the 2:30 flight. Gulp.

We only had thirty minutes to get to the small airport. We zipped over, checked in (they asked for our body weights!) and waited for the pilot to call us. The company has several planes. We were taking a twin engine with the ability to fly over 20,000 feet in order to look over Mt. McKinley. Our names are called; we look at the other passengers who will be joining us. There are eight of us in all, plus the pilot. We are seated according to our weight in order to balance the plane. We sure hope that everyone was telling the truth about his or her weight. Gulp again. I scrutinize the passengers. One, obviously of Indian descent looks like a medical doctor to me (Dennis thinks he might be a service representative from HP). Accompanying him are two women who appear to be his wife and sister. Another passenger looks like a recent college grad. Another said he was here from Utah on business. If this plane goes down, we’ll have medical care, a healthy young man to climb down for help and a businessman who will dole out our supplies. Kind of like Gilligan’s Island. Good to go.

The pilot went over safety precautions, how to use the oxygen masks, about the headsets we would all wear in order to hear him and ask any questions. He also explains that the plane is equipped with provisions and medical supplies. At last, we boarded the plane. Very quickly we are ready for take off. With our headsets, we are able to hear the control tower and the pilot conversing. And away we go! Up, up, quickly climbing and viewing Denali National Park and Preserve. Rivers, bogs, forests, meadows, all so different from the air. We don’t waste any time flying to Denali. Our trip first takes us to the south side of Mt. McKinley, crossing incredible glaciers that look like highways from our altitude. We then fly across the divide to see Wickersham Wall, a 14,000-foot continuous rise of rock and ice. We then climb for dramatic views of McKinley’s summit and the vast expanse of Denali National Park below. Yesterday, we had been at the bottom peering up to view Mt. McKinley and taking in the wildlife and terrain of the Park’s floor. Today, we are experiencing what climbers witness when they reach the summit of North America’s highest peak. This is unbelievable.

Our flight lasts 1.5 hours but it seemed like minutes. The vastness of the mountains and their pristine quality cannot be fully described. On our descent, our pilot (who by the way spends his winters in Santa Barbara flying corporate executives around LA) tell us that there are usually only 4-5 days like this in the summer. According to him, today is the best it has been. We wouldn’t know, but it was best we’ll ever experience. Between us, we take 400 pictures on this short flight. Culling them will be tough.

We return to the ground, albeit a bit sad that it is already over. We decide that rather than move on to Anchorage today, we’ll lay up in Talkeetna. We really like this place. It has warmed up from 32 degrees this morning to 70 degrees! We grab a hamburger at the West Rib Café, Dennis downs a couple pints and we top it off with a couple of small sundaes. This has been an incredible day and somehow our generally healthy dinners just don’t fit the bill. We’ll savor this day. The diet comes tomorrow.

Next stop: Anchorage.