We can leave the Alaska Range now, because Bob saw Mt McKinley up close and from all sides. Bob walked on Ruth Glacier high on Mt McKinley the easy way with Talkeetna Air Taxi. There was one seat left (10 passengers) on the 6-29-12 12:30 Grand Denali Flight. Bob sat in the co-pilots seat, greatly enjoyed the flight, and took over 400 pictures in less than 2 hours. Barb didn’t want to go because she has problems with air pressure changes. About 1200 climbers a year attempt to climb Mt McKinley. About half of them succeed in climbing to the summit at 20,320 feet elevation. More than 90% of climbers are flown into base camp at 7000 feet elevation. The average time to climb Mt McKinley from the 7000 foot high base camp is 3 weeks. The summer temperature range on Mt McKinley is 10 F to -50 F. Mt McKinley has one of the greatest vertical distances from base to summit of any mountain in the world. The Wickersham Wall is one of the highest mountain walls in the world at 14,000 vertical feet. Mt McKinley is growing taller about ¾” per year. There are 17 major named glaciers, six of them more than 24 miles long.
Tomorrow we’ll drive back north to Byers Lake campground in Denali State Park to spend a few days at a beautiful wilderness lake near Mt McKinley. Following are a few pictures from the flight.
Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley
Ruth Glacier on Mt McKinley
Bob on upper section of Ruth Glacier.
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