Denali - from the air

So, Jason, Ryan, and I headed north from Anchorage on a Tuesday.  Our plan was to camp out Tues night, so Ryan and I could catch an 8am flight around Denali from Talkeetna - grab breakfast, and then head back.  Well, instead of camping...we found a bar in downtown Talkeetna and we could rent a room above it - really!  So, we did, of course.  I was beat (had been up since 6am for some reason - just couldn't get back to sleep), so after dinner at the West Rib and a few drinks - I enjoyed falling asleep to open mic music from downstairs.  I think my brother and husband stayed up and drank more though. 

Anywya, by 8am on Wed, Ryan and I made our way to the little Talkeetna airport just in time to learn the flight had been postponed until 10:30 (weather wasn't cooperating yet).  So, back to sleep for a couple more hours - no complaints from us.  We went back at 10:30am and learned they would fly, but no guarantees we would see peaks or be able to land on a glacier (that's what we were paying for) but if we had to turn around - no charge (so what do we have to lose).

We took off and quickly ascended into the clouds - shortly some peaks came into view - it was rather surreal seeing the tallest peak in North America above a puffy layer of clouds (pretty lighting up there).  Then, we made our way through some mountains in the Alaska range to part of the largest inland glacier in Alaska - fresh layer of snow, so absolutely no tracks until we landed.  See pix at http://bso1.com/pix/main.php?g2_itemId=30802  because words can't really describe the experience. 

Once we headed back to Talkeetna, I think Ryan was happy to be on ground again and we found Jason reading at a cafe.  Don't worry, Jason did a similar flight 6 years ago, so we didn't leave him out - but these flights aren't cheap and buy one, get one coupons don't work with 3 people.  We got breakfast at the Roadhouse - sourdough pancakes (rhubapple) and time to head back to Anchorage.  Another shitty day in paradise...