Alaska diary: Mt McKinley

Karma invited us to Denali and threw a party.  Mt. McKinley was entirely or partly visible all but one day of the three days we spent in the the Park.  Peeking out describes the visibility in the evenings.  And totally or partially shrouded applies various times of the afternoon.  But on two mornings, we're talking bare naked, whole range, not-a-cloud-in-sight visible.

I could rhapsodize, but the picture and 1000 words ratio favors the pictures.  So enjoy the views.  We did.

View from Eilson Visitor Center -- on bus ride into the Park.  By afternoon, the entire range was obscured by clouds.

But McKinley peeked out again in the evening after the ranger talk.  Photo taken about 10:00 pm.

The first day in camp, the whole range was visible.  We hiked up the hillside east of Wonder Lake Campground for this view.

The view from our campsite at Wonder Lake on the first morning.  We heard Gary, the professional photographer camped below us, snapping pictures at dawn.

Dale and I hiked up to Reflection Pond, about two miles from the campground, for this and many other pictures.

Supposedly Ansel Adams took a famous black & white photograph from this very pond.  

At 6 a.m. on the final morning, McKlinley was visible.  By 7:30 the clouds had rolled in.  Our green tent -- my trusty Jansport -- squats in the bushes lower right.

On the bus ride out the last day, our driver stopped at the north end of Wonder Lake for this view of the range.