When we knew we would be spending two weeks in Alaska we immediately made plans to travel to Denali National Park. For three days we would look in awe at the highest peak in North America and be in awe. Denali - or Mt. McKinley, as two senators in Ohio continue to insist is it's official name - rises 20,300 feet into the air so it would be hard to miss. The Great One. The mountain that rises above all others and has claimed the lives of many a climber. This would be a sight to remember. Or so we thought.
Early last Wednesday we stood at the rail depot in Wasilla (yes, THAT Wasilla) anticipating a train ride that would give us views of exotic wilderness wildlife and snow capped mountain peaks. Spending the extra bucks to ride in the glass roofed rail cars would give us a big advantage over those on the bottom levels who would see only the lower branches of trees and a glimpse of the ground squirrels so common in these regions. We would be seeing moose, and bears, and caribou from our level. Or so we thought.
Onto the train we went. Good seats. Smiling attendants. Refreshments and a dining car with lots of options at our disposal. Heavy cloud cover was overhead and there was a chance of rain in the forecast.......wait. What? Clouds? Rain? No view of mountains? No view of THE mountain on this train ride? Well, thank goodness we will be in the park for three days, and have an all day tour into the park scheduled so that tomorrow we will see The Great One. Or so we thought.
Thursday brought more clouds. A twelve hour bus ride into and back out of the park with our binoculars gave us views of Grizzly bears, moose, caribou and mountain goats but no clear view of the mountain. Our guide for the day is now telling us if we manage to see The Great One we will be very lucky. Only one to two percent of visitors to Denali manage a good view of the mountain as it is only out twenty percent of the time. Seems The Great One likes to create it's own weather at the top and good pictures are elusive. Disappointed not to be part of "the view" lottery winners we figure we have the bus ride back to Wasilla to catch a glimpse of the peak. Or so we thought.
Friday's trip home we craned our necks to look back and wait for the clouds to break. The bus even stopped at a viewing area so we could unload and stand from afar to see the mountain range with The Great One towering over the smaller peaks but it was just not to be. Even though the sun was shining where we stood the mountain peaks looked like they were enshrouded with enough clouds to produce snow. Sadly this was our last chance. We lost out. The Great One eluded us. The closest we were going to get was a picture of the mountain on a cloth bag as painted by nearby elementary school children for a fund raiser. Or so we thought.
Yesterday, the day before we knew we would be packing for the plane ride back to NYC, we decided to hike near our temporary Alaska home. We drove up to a place called Hatcher Pass and stepped out of the car to walk up a small bluff to see what we could see. On the horizon appeared a range of mountains.
Oh my gosh! There it is! There is a view of The Great One we were missing. Which one is it? The one on the far left? Must be. It's the tallest. Or so we thought.
A chance encounter on our hiking trail with a young lady who lives in Wasilla told us that we were not looking at The Great One. You are looking at The Alaskan Mountain Range she told us. You can't see The Great One from here but you MIGHT catch a glimpse of it if you go thirty miles to the west to a place called Willow she told us. You mean the same Willow we passed through on our way back from Denali Park the other day? Yes, that Willow. So off to Willow we went.
And there it was.
Count us among the lucky ones. From over one hundred miles away we could see the grand peak on a beautiful, clear sunny day.
The Great One.
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