Day 9, Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Knockin’ Around and Circling Denali
We woke to another gorgeous day. I had scheduled an excursion to fly into the Arctic Circle from Healy River Airport, near the McKinley Chalet Resort. On Day 2 of our time in Denali (“yesterday”), I received a call from Air Denali telling me my flight had been cancelled because not enough people had signed up. If I wanted to, I could take a bus to Fairbanks, and fly with Air Denali from the Fairbanks airport. But that would make for a very long day—two hours by bus; however long to get geared up and debriefed; over an hour to fly to the little village in the Arctic Circle; a couple of hours visiting there; hour+ back to Fairbanks; then two hours back to the resort. I bypassed that opportunity and the representative told me she’d refund what I had paid. But a couple of hours later, she called back. They had a flight that left Healy, flew the 60 miles to Denali, circled the summit a couple of times, and then returned to the airport. It was a less expensive excursion that the one to the Arctic Circle, and they would return that extra $60 to me. I jumped at the chance! I think we were to meet at the main lodge for shuttle pickup around 12:30 or so. It’s been a year today (as I’m finally writing this) and I don’t believe I wrote that down anywhere. I don’t remember the details of the trip, but I remember it was very exciting to me, the gal who loves to fly. I viewed it as a trip of a lifetime!
The “knock around” time of our day started in the morning, when we had several hours to kill before I had to head to the small airport. First, breakfast at Karstens’, so named for Harry Karstens, the first climber to reach the top of Mount McKinley (now Denali). We did a little window shopping and browsing in the shops in Denali Square and I found a pair of handmade earrings by an Alaskan jeweler. They were made from a black material similar to the slag Michigan jewelers find in Grand Traverse Bay. I receive compliments on these new earrings most every time I wear them.
Still more time to kill, so we took a walk along one of the trails that starts behind our cabin. The McKinley Chalet Resort is bordered by the Nenana River, which starts at the Nenana Glacier in the Alaska Range, flows south, and then turns north for a total length of 140 miles, finally joining the Tanana River about 35 miles southwest of Fairbanks. While we were on the ship the previous week, there was a period of time we just wanted to relax in the cabin. We flipped through the movies on the television and found the movie, “Classic,” the story of a century-old tradition in Tanana, Alaska. The “Ice Classic” is billed as Alaska’s greatest guessing game. Anyone stands to win over $300,000 as long they can guess, to the minute, when the river ice melts. You can watch the movie trailer here or watch the full movie with this link, if you’re an Apple+ subscriber. I found the movie very enjoyable, and loved seeing the river as it wound through all these spaces we occupied during our three-day Denali visit.
And before I knew it, the time had come to head to Healy River Airport. We had instructions to pay attention to, waivers to sign, and oxygen masks to learn the use of. I loved Fly Denali’s motto: “We do Once-in-a-Lifetime … 4 times a day. That’s definitely how I felt about this flight. Finally we boarded the [Piper Navajo, I believe] and taxied to takeoff. Let me confess right here that I took 163 photos on this flight. I’ve cut back quite a bit on what I’ve included in the gallery below. If you want to see some professional photos, check out the gallery on Air Denali’s website
As we were preparing to board, the pilot told us that we could expect to be severely buffeted by the winds as we were coming up from the valley into the mountains. And he wasn’t kidding. That was the worst bouncing around I’ve experienced in my life. I didn’t scream like a girl, but I was holding onto the empty seat catty-cornered in front of me! But it only lasted a minute or so, and we never had a similar problem for the rest of the flight, even when descending into the valley again.
Look at this glacier seen from the air! (Muldrow Glacier, I believe)
The other aspect of the flight that was new to me was the lack of pressurization. I had never before had to wear an oxygen mask on a flight. It wasn’t hard to breath, just tight and heavy as it pressed on my cheekbones. But if those two issues were all I had to put up with to have this fabulous flight with exquisite views, I would do it again every time I’m in the area!
All too soon, we were on the ground, posing for “selfies” with the plane, and buying the mandatory souveniers. I have an “Air Denali” sticker on the left side of my back window, and just looking at it when I approach my SUV make me very happy.
I texted Jas that we were on our way back, and he walked up to the main hotel lobby to meet me. We went into the restaurant and ordered a pizza for dinner, then walked the property a little more before heading to our cabin to repack our bags for the early morning departure.
So here’s the bottom line. Did I enjoy this three-day CruiseTour? And would I do it again? I enjoyed it very much. I loved the train ride, but it was very long. That first day off the ship was very long, to sit on the train for hours. Depending upon which account you read, McKinley Chalet Resort is owned by Carnival Corp. or Holland America Line or (evidently, for the purposes of lawsuits) Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services, Inc. There is another resort in the valley, Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, for the use of Princess cruisers. If you want to get yourself to Denali outside of a cruisetour, there are lodgings within the Denali National Park & Preserve. But the two Chalet Resorts are designed for the comfort of the Princess and Holland America passengers, and are maintained to that end.
I’m very glad we went on the cruisetour. But now I have seen all the beauty, and I really don’t have a need to go to that expense or energy to do it again. But, YES, if you can swing the time and extra funds, book the cruisetour!
And tomorrow we’re back to Anchorage.
Alaska 2023, Day 9
