We got our first glimpse of Mount Denali about 100 miles out along the Parks Highway north of Anchorage. We were the lucky few, as the mountain is covered with clouds 60 percent of the time. We spent over a week in the area, and had three sun filled days.

Mount Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley) stands at 20,310 feet above sea level, it is the largest peak in North America and is the third most prominent and isolated mountain on earth.	This picture was taken along a river bank in the touristy town of Talkeetna, which was our home for four days. This video shows the vastness of Denali National Park and Preserve, encompassing more than 6,000 square miles.
The following morning, the skies were overcast, but with some encouragement from locals, we took a flight seeing tour over Denali.	It was the best decision we made.  The clouds were dispersed, and we had spectacular views.
Our pilot told us there are 121 named mountain peaks in the park, Denali being the tallest.	And one-sixth of the park is covered by glaciers, 40 of which are named.
Our flightseeing tour took us around all sides of Denali.	Some tours included planes landing on a glacier allowing passengers to walk on the snow and ice.
As are most of the world's glaciers, Denali is retreating about 60 feet each year.	The beautiful turquois colored lake is filled with glacier runoff.
To native Alaskans, this mountain was always known as Denali, meaning "the big one".	In 1897, early gold prospectors dubbed the peak Mount McKinley because of President McKinley's support of the gold standard.  Although he never stepped foot in Alaska.
The century long fight to return the name to Denali was finally won in 2015 with the aid of  President Obama.	Muldrow Glacier is the longest glacier in Denali, at 39 miles long.
We took over 100 pictures as we flew over Denali and it was painful to delete all but these.	Talkeetna is a small town with just over 1,000 residents. This inn/restaurant/bar has seen the likes of John Denver and President Warren Harding.
We enjoyed the local musicians playing at the town's Concerts in the Park.	The local museum displayed this picture of a moose tamed and used as a pack mule.
Talkeetna is the start point for 1,000 adventurous souls who attempt the two-week climb each year. Only half make it to the summit and one of them dies.	This cutesy house is also home to the only marijuana shop in town.
We used our RV, planes, ferries, tour boats, busses, and van to tour Alaskan, and could not resist taking the rails.	We rode in the Gold Star Dome for four hours from Talkeetna to Denali. While Denali was covered with clouds the experience was awesome.
The excursion included an awesome meal and six drink tickets.	The views along the rivers and valleys were stunning.
This picture is of Hurricane Gulch atop a bridge spanning the 300' gulch.	After spending one night in a motel in Denali, we took the cheap seats back to Talkeetna and took in what we missed on the way up.
The train came to a complete stop so, the north bound crew could switch with the south bound crew.	Tourism features nearly every means of travel. We opted not to go on a Safari in Alaska.
About 600,000 people visit Denali each year and seeing the mountain feels like winning the lottery.	As we drove the RV to Denali National Park, we stopped at Denali State Park for a hike.
The trail took us past this abandoned log cabin. We could not image living there, even in its prime.	Denali spotlighted its four-legged rangers, who celebrated their 100th anniversary of dogsledding in the Park.
These dogs are bred to run and these lucky few were excited to show off their skills.	Denali has a Visitors Center Campus, which includes a museum, gift shops, restaurant, train station, and bus stops. There is only one park road, which cars are allowed to drive the first 15 miles of a 92-mile road. However, due a rockslide we could not go beyond mile marker 43. We opted to take a bus.
The Savage River is one of many rivers that carry the runoff waters from Denali. This one drains into the Yukon River which eventually flows into the Bering Sea.	At elevations above 3,500 feet the Denali landscape changes into Tundra, in that the subsurface remain frozen (permafrost). Only hardy floras, like these Fireweed survive.
This was our view at mile marker 43, where the bus had to turn around due to the rockslide.	Over 90 percent of the Caribou in Alaska make Denali their home.
Caribou are the only deer in which males and females have antlers. Watch this bull show off his rack.	The sun gods blessed us with another striking view of Denali from the north side of the mountain.
Denali National Park is a part of the Alaska Mountain Range, which runs nearly 400 miles beginning at the border of Canada.	Our RV was parked at a campground a mile and a half from the Park entrance, which we walked three of the four day we were there. Nice trails.
Our last day at the park, we hiked the two-mile loop of Horseshoe Lake Trail, which included mostly steps to get down to the lake level.	Our eight days in Denali were more than we anticipated.

Valdez	Seward	Homer	Anchorage	Fairbanks