Friday 5 July
Chris, Ross, and Josh went for a flight with Dave Hicks. Headed north from Talkeetna, flew over Larry’s cabin then headed out to Denali (Mt McKinley) where Dave flew up completely around the mountain.
He said that it was a perfect day – the weather was spectacular, not a cloud to be seen, McKinley was just spectacular. We could see where base camp was – there was still one tent there. We could see the different trails that climbers had forged this summer. Due to the long stretch of summer weather, climbing continued later, but the heat was now melting, exposing crevices that would have made it dangerous for walking.
Unbelievable scenery, just hard to put into words. We would highly recommend a flight with David Hicks N2 Alaska Floatplane Sightseeing Tours – it was amazing! Both Chris and Josh felt a little unwell at times even though it was a smooth flight. You could feel the temperature drop as we flew around Denali where David pointed out different routes of varying difficulty for climbing Denali;
There are 4 main routes up McKinley;
- Over 90% of the people who climb Denali these days ascend it by the standard route up the West Buttress.
- For nearly 40 years the Muldrow Glacier on the northern side was the standard route.
- For those who fancy something a little more challenging there’s the West Rib, first climbed in 1959.
- Long regarded as Denali’s classic line, the Cassin Ridge is a bit more hardcore, and for elite climbers, first climbed in 1961.
92% climb Denali by the West Buttress
51% of climbers reach the summit
We flew right into Denali and it was hard to gauge distances as there were white sheer cliffs. He pointed out a cabin that he had stayed in at one point at the base of the Mountain. We saw loads of Glaciers, the beautiful blue Glacier pools, and even a Moose further down in the tundra.
We came home and had a lazy afternoon. Once we were all awake Larry set us up with Kayaks and a Windsurfing Board. We spent about 2 hours paddling around Christensen Lake (a lake that Ross and Chris swam in, in the summer of 1996 and then snowmobiled on, in the Christmas of 1996. We had sprayed ourselves with bug spray before going into the lake, not as much for the bugs but to act as a repellent for the leeches. We had a lovely swim and it was really warm and thankfully no leeches.
It’s Kay and Joyce’s last night before they head to Anchorage and they bought Pizza from the well-reputed Mountain High Pizza Pie in Talkeetna. We had Bennetts Chocolates, Brownie and Chocolate Biscuits for Dessert. We had a lovely time with them and hope to see them again sometime, maybe in NZ.
