This article is a spin-off of the American National Parks Series Vol. 5: Denali National Park.
In Alaska, a sparsely populated land with raging ice and snow
Taking a small plane is a common mode of transportation
From this, a travel experience with Alaskan characteristics was born:
Take a small plane to see McKinley from up close
The legendary highest peak in North America
Alaska’s vast territory and sparsely populated areas, coupled with the long winters where many roads are covered in ice and snow and impassable to traffic, have spurred the rapid development of Alaska’s aviation industry.
Every town here has an airport, and even in deserted places there are occasional airports.
Alaska is also the state with the most pilots in the United States, with one in every five people having a pilot's license.
With the help of small planes, Alaska has realized the "connecting every village" project.
For Alaskans, flying is a common way of life.
For tourists, this is a very unique way to travel to Alaska: take a small plane to see Denali, the legendary highest peak in North America, from up close.
Denali/Dinali, the highest peak in North America at 6,194 meters (20,320 feet), is located in Denali National Park.
👉 Denali, the animal kingdom in the Alaskan wilderness
Due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle, the mountain is covered by glaciers and is quite difficult to climb. It was not until 1913 that someone climbed to its summit for the first time.
Searching for information online, almost everyone recommended going to Talkeetan, the capital of small planes. The first place we went to was Talkeetan, but due to weather conditions there were no small flights to see McKinley in those days, so we had to give up and continue heading north.
After returning from the Arctic Ocean, we went to Denali National Park and found that there are places to take small planes at the entrance of the national park and inside the national park, and the price is cheaper!
Therefore I strongly recommend that everyone go to Denali Park and take a small plane .
Talkeetna is a small town north of Anchorage. It is famous for its small aircraft and is known as the small aircraft capital. Many guides recommend taking a small plane here.
The small town of Talkeetna is only 3 blocks from the city center. But although Majong is small, it has all the essentials. There are restaurants, hotels, and small aircraft operators.
Drive 115 miles north from Anchorage, turn right onto Talkeetna Spur Rd, then drive to the end (14 miles) to Talkeetna. However, our GPS was not very good here and directed us to turn around and go to another hostel... After we asked for directions, we circled back to Talkeetna downtown.
We stayed at a hostel called Seven Tree in the city center that night. We counted carefully and found that there seemed to be only three trees in front of his house.
A very cozy cottage, the landlord is very nice. There is a world map hanging in the cottage, and every guest staying overnight can I found that most of the guests were from the United States and Europe, and there were almost no pins in China.
Another friendly reminder - Talkeetna is very small and the accommodation is limited, so it is better to book in advance. We booked on the same day and several hostels were full, but fortunately there was one person who had booked a room but not It was cheaper for us to go~~ We also saw some hostels here and there on the way, but it was better to make a reservation for peace of mind~~
I originally planned to take a small plane the next day, but when the weather was bad, I gave up and continued driving north. In fact, I don’t understand why so many people recommend Talkeetna’s small plane – I feel that it is not very advantageous in terms of location and price. Flying from Talkeetna to Denali takes time and money on gas. We finally chose to take a small plane at the entrance of Denali National Park.
This was a completely unexpected discovery. We stayed at the Wonder Lake Campground in Denali Park the night before, and got up early the next morning to wander around, planning to wave on the shuttle bus when we encountered it.
As a result, while walking, I accidentally discovered that there is also a place to take a small plane in the park. It is located between Wonder Lake and Kantishna . This airport is already deep in Denali Park and very close to Mount McKinley. The price here is also the lowest among all the places we asked, only over 200 dollars.
But we gave up in the end because of the weather - it looked like it was going to rain today, and it felt like flying was not cost-effective and we couldn't take good photos. So we decided to go hiking on this day, hoping that the weather would be better tomorrow and we could take a small plane.
Near the airport, we also met an uninvited guest:
Unfortunately, it rained the few days we stayed in Denali National Park, which was not suitable for flying by small plane, so we did not participate in this project. Instead, it cleared up on the day we left the park.
When we left Denali and headed south along the Parks Hwy, we once again saw an advertisement for a small airplane on the side of the road. We hesitated: We had finally come to Alaska once, and we had already given up on small planes twice due to weather conditions. Should we just leave without taking any flights at all?
In the end, we couldn't compete with our desire to make a small plane, and the weather cleared up, so we went to ask about the price, and finally decided - take a seat!
The operator is called Denali Adventure Tours, and the tour is called peak experience. They have discounts for groups of more than 4 people, and there happened to be two other people inquiring. In the end, the five of us simply formed a group and got the 25% discount (there is a 25% discount for groups of more than 4 people), which cost 300 after the discount. Many knives.
We had researched the seats before, in order to take better photos and avoid the wings, the seats in the last row were the best. Foreigners obviously don't have this particularity. The first couple on the plane actually sat in the second row, so I quickly rushed up to occupy the front row - I didn't take pictures much at that time, and I liked sitting in the front row. S followed me closely and grabbed the last row. There is only one seat in the last row, and there is a door on the other side. So V sat in the second to last row. The foreigner who came behind looked confused - aren't you three together? Why are you sitting so far away?
PS: S and V are my traveling companions on this trip. We met online.
For me, I have to wear earmuffs on the plane anyway because the noise is too loud. What's the point of sitting together if we can't talk?
Sitting in the front row, looking at the dashboard in front of me, I immediately admired the captain.
The tour we participated in was called Peak Experience, and we naturally wanted to see McKinley, but I didn’t expect that Captain Bob would be so dedicated. He took us around left and right, and kept saying, “Okay, let me change.” Angle, the friend on the right can take a picture, okay, I will turn around again, the friend on the left can take a photo, okay, I will turn around now, the friend on the right is ready... I am already dizzy because I am afraid of heights ——Uncle, are you so dedicated...
Mount McKinley is located in the middle of the Alaska Range, with an altitude of 6,194 meters. It is the highest peak in North America. Originally named Denali, it was later renamed Mount McKinley in honor of William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States.
It can also be seen from the picture above that it has two peaks, south and north, with the south peak being higher. It is said that someone climbed the North Peak in 1910, and then claimed to be the first person to reach the summit. Three years later, he was slapped in the face and showed a photo of the South Peak, which showed that the South Peak was higher than the North Peak. So the 1910 team had to give up the title of first person to the summit to someone else. It's also sad.
Although McKinley is only over 6,000 meters high, it is almost one of the most difficult snow-climbed mountains. The base of most mountains is relatively high, such as Mount Everest at 8,848 meters, but it is based on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with an average altitude of 4,500 meters. But McKinley almost rose from the ground. In addition, it is close to the Arctic Circle and has a harsh climate. It has been a grave for professional climbers for many years, and it was not conquered until 1913.
Looking at the thick glaciers on the mountain, I was in awe of it. It is said that someone once climbed to the top of the mountain with a snowboard on his back for 1 to 2 weeks, and then skied down the mountain in one day.
After we had been circling for a long time and I was almost airsick, I finally heard the sound of nature. Uncle Bob said, our time is almost up, I will go around for the last time, turn left and right, and then we can go back.
Uncle Bob, you are really the conscience of the industry. On the way back, the uncle happily took us along the mountains to look for dall sheep. Looking at Denali from another angle, it is still so beautiful.
There was also a thunderstorm on the way. By the way, the whole journey today was a bit bumpy. When I experienced big bumps several times, I was so nervous that I held on to the window sill. At this time, I glanced at Uncle Bob. He was sitting calmly and calmly, with only two fingers symbolically resting on the steering wheel. He didn't take the airflow seriously at all.
Industry Conscience——Pilot Bob
Note:
1. Personally, I feel it is best not to book in advance because the weather is too unpredictable and flying on a cloudy day is very depressing.
2. Before booking a small plane, you should ask clearly about their service content. Some claim to take you to see McKinley, but in fact they only fly to a place 5-7 miles away from McKinley for you to see from a distance, but ours is close to McKinley. The two peaks are flying, and many times I was worried whether the plane would hit them.
3. Regarding the seats, the previous online guide said that it is best to choose the seats towards the back. The seats in the front are easy to take pictures of the wings or propellers. But I just wanted to experience the small plane anyway, and I didn’t plan to take many photos, so I ran to the co-pilot’s seat. It’s not very good to take pictures from the side because it’s blocked by the wings, but it’s unexpectedly good to take pictures from the front! Moreover, the plane sometimes tilts very sharply. At this time, you don’t have to worry about the wings when taking side shots. So the seats are a matter of opinion, the front and back are fine, but the row behind the driver is not very good, the front cannot be photographed, and there are wings on the side.