A Special Treat

I was given several significant gift cards before I left on this trip (thank you boys), and decided in the end to use them for something special, some really great experiences. The cruise in Valdez was one of them, and today was another.  I went flightseeing around Mt. McKinley. There were 8 of us on this small plane that took off from an airstrip north of the park.   We had to be there at 8 AM for our flight, and be decked out with shoepaks, kind of like boots with heavy treads and nylon uppers that go over your shoes. Good things to have when you might be walking on snow, and we were supposed to land on a glacier and spend 20-30 minutes there.

Pre-flight instructions

5 of the 8 of us.

I've been in what I thought were small planes before, but this one was really small, and when the wind blew, it was like you were in a swing – the body of the plane rocked back and forth while the wings wiggled. Kind of a different experience!!  It was quite amazing to see the mountain from up high, and up close. And those lakes on the glaciers -- they were a color blue that is just breathtaking!

What I saw looking straight ahead

Glacier lakes

 

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking in this blog – I'm out of words, and I'm thankful that we have places in this country that are so beautiful, and that people work hard to keep them that way.

We didn't walk on the glacier in the end – conditions were not safe for that because of weather, but it didn't matter – oh my, what a day!!

The mountains go on forever

McKinley, and Eilson Glacier

Up Close and Personal