Anchorage, Alaska and Denali National Park & Mt. McKinley Flyover cover page. |
Map of Alaska with the star indicating Anchorage. |
Map of downtown Anchorage, Alaska. |
We stayed at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. |
Painting called "The Death of Captain Cook," in the lobby of the Captain Cook Hotel. |
Lobby and front desk of the hotel. |
Painting in the Captain Cook Hotel entitled "Hawaiian Warriors Perform Before a Royal Court." |
Another painting entitled "A Maori Chief Wearing the Cape of His Rank." |
This one is entitled " A Man and Woman of Nootka Sound." |
Finally, this one is entitled " A Man and Woman of Oonalashka." |
An unusual native Alaskan sculpture in the lobby of the Captain Cook Hotel. |
View of downtown Anchorage from my hotel window. |
There are many new modern high-rises in downtown. |
The clouds over the city were very dramatic that day. |
Exterior of Humpys Restaurant, a popular Anchorage hangout where we had lunch. |
Interior of Humpys. It has a bar-like atmosphere, is casual and has great seafood. |
A mural of a humpback whale in Anchorage. |
Further down the street, are these moose depictions. |
Town Square Park in Anchorage has attractive landscaping and flowers. |
A flowerbed in the park. |
There are some beautiful trees behind the flowerbed. |
The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts is next to Town Square Park. |
Some native Alaskan totem poles and a gorgeous hanging basket in front of this Anchorage building. |
Close-up of one of the totem poles. |
Totem pole on the corner of an Anchorage building. |
The 4th Avenue Theater is a landmark. |
One of several Anchorage tourist trolley tours. |
I took this trolley. It wasn't free, though; a tour of Anchorage cost $10. |
The trolley tour passed by Resolution Park. |
Statue of Captain Cook at Resolution Park. |
Another Anchorage skyline view from the Trolley tour. |
Sign telling drivers to yield to aircraft. |
A small two-person airplane in Anchorage. |
Plane docked at Lake Hood. Alaska has more planes per person than any other state in the union. |
That's because many parts of Alaska are only accessible by plane. |
One of many tourist gift shops in Anchorage. |
The Tourist Information Center. Summer is the peak season for tourism. |
Front of the Anchorage City Hall. |
Grizzlys is another popular shopping spot for tourists. |
Grizzlys windows with hanging baskets. |
A bear in front of Grizzlys. The best way to escape from them is to run faster than the person you're next to! |
Wooden Indian with a dog. |
Glacial ice to promote the Kenai Fjords Tours and the Prince William Sound Cruises. |
A moose on a skateboard in front of an Anchorage shop. |
We took a Denali National Park, Mt. McKinley flight tour from Rust's. |
Rust's seaplanes parked at the Lake Hood airport. |
It was a beautiful day with lots of clouds in the sky. |
Other tourists were there to, some going on other tours. |
View of the airport behind us after the plane took off. |
The plane was gaining altitude. |
The plane had to go to 10,000 feet, above the clouds to get a good view of Mt. McKinley. |
View of Mt. McKinley from above the clouds. It was named after President William McKinley, even though he never went to Alaska. |
Getting closer to McKinley. It is the highest mountain peak in North America and the U.S., with an elevation of 20,320 feet. |
To the left of Mt. McKinley is a sister mountain, Mt. Foraker. |
Close-up of Mt. Foraker. |
Glacier flows in Denali National Park. |
Vegetation next to rock, glacial debris and a glacial pool. |
Ahead of us was "mother of all glaciers" in Denali, the Ruth Glacier. |
The Ruth Glacier primarily occupies the southeast side Mount McKinley. |
Of these glaciers, Ruth, Kahiltna and Muldrow Glaciers are the longest glaciers in the park; each is more than 30 miles long. |
View of the massive Ruth Glacier. Many smaller (unnamed) glaciers flow into it. |
Alaska Range Mountains in the park. |
As the flight progressed, it got cloudier as seen over these mountains. |
They have snow on them all year round. |
Glacial debris below the mountain. Glaciers are very dirty because they drag so much rock and debris as they flow. |
Note the dirty ice on the glacier below. |
Massive glaciers wrapping around the peaks. |
More views of the glaciers between the mountains. |
Ice, snow and pools of turquoise water below. |
More turquoise pools of water. |
The pilot joked that these glaciers are nicknamed "Beverly Hills," because it looks like there are hundreds of swimming pools! |
These glacial pools are elongated. |
Close-up of the elongated pools. |
Deep ice crevices below. |
It looks like a barren wasteland. |
Patches of snow on the mountain below. |
I sure that that the water in this glacial pool is cold! |
The pilot headed for a lake in Denali National Park where we would land. |
The water was a beautiful turquoise color. |
Clouds reflecting on the lake, as we were about to land. |
View of the water after landing. |
A photo of me with the pilot. |
This bumblebee got trapped in the plane. We released it at the end of the tour. |
A cabin along the side of the lake. It is very isolated and is only accessible by air. |
Along side the lake, was a camp. |
Interesting geological formations in Denali National Park. |
Close-up of the formations. |
We were getting ready to land. It is very green because it rains so much in Alaska. |
Another seaplane landing on Lake Hood. |
Close-up of the plane. We landed on Lake Hood shortly thereafter. |