Day 8 Flight to Mt McKinley and the Train

Years from now, when I think back about my trip to Alaska, this day will be the first day I think about. It was a great day. The day started at the Talkeetna lodge. We didn’t have to be anywhere until 12:00, so the day started right. We took our time getting ready, had breakfast at the lodge restaurant (great meal by the way), and got checked out. A shuttled picked us up in front of the lodge and took us to a small (very small) airport in the middle of Talkeetna. There, the eight of us boarded a small twin engine private plane. The plane only sat ten people, so with the pilot we pretty well filled up the plane.

We had to wear headphones and mics to communicate with each other during the flight. We were headed 70 miles out to the Denali State park. The flight was more breathtakingly beautiful than I could ever describe. We flue completely around Mt McKinley and through the rest of the Denali Mountain Range. These mountains were so much bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. The glaciers on some of these mountains seemed bigger than small cities. Glaciers miles and miles long, sharp peaks stretching way into the sky, boulders larger than my house, it was more awesome than I even know. The flight soared through gigantic glacier valleys, and around the huge mountain peaks. It was breathtaking. The flight only lasted an hour and a half; it seemed like ten minutes.

The flight was also a great opportunity for Austin and Grady to catch up on some much needed sleep.

We landed and walked around the town of Talkeetna for a couple of hours. Talkeetna is a small town primarily made up of either artists or serious climbers and hikers. It made for some great shops and pubs. We spent some money in a few art shops and wasted some time in a couple pubs.

We walked down to the train station and officially started our long journey home. I believe most of us will be sleeping nearly the entire way home.