Denali: From the National Park and Beyond

Denali boasts many accolades. It is North America's highest peak and one of the Seven Summits. It is the world's third most prominent peak by the official "topographical prominence" measure. It has, by far, the highest latitude of the Seven Summits. By all measures, it is an incredible mountain. 

Denali is also elusive. A widely used anecdote claims that only 30% of visitors who seek the mountain even get to see it. The other 70% find only a swirl of clouds where the mountain should be. That is why on a recent trip when we got three full days of completely unimpeded views of the "Great One," we were truly lucky.

A visit to Denali National Park & Preserve, however, is much more than just a visit to this great mountain. Along the way we also saw two grizzly bears, six caribou and three Dall sheep, three of "Big Five" Alaskan animals (wolves and moose were elusive on this trip, though I have seen both, especially moose, before). Though many of these encounters were too far even for the 400 mm lens to capture a good image, there were times when I just had to put the camera down and realize this adventure wasn't just about photos.

After leaving the park, we were treated to incredible views of the big mountain all along the Parks Highway. The glaciated summit and ridges swan in and out of view like a ghost rising and sinking through the trees. We made several pit stops to frame up new views of the mountain's many facades. And before heading back to my home on the Kenai Peninsula, we passed a night in the quaint town of Talkeetna where the views of the mountain somehow seemed even better.

Though the skies were too blue and there was no sunrise and sunset in July to make for ideal photography conditions, it is hard to complain about three incredible days circling one of the world's iconic mountains, and some of the images I captured were good enough to satiate the photographer inside me.

Denali area image gallery (click to view higher resolution images)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit THE ARCHIVE: A list of most of my articles and posts sorted by category

Copyright notice: This website and all its contents are the intellectual property of Brian Wright Photography. None of the content can be used or reproduced without expressed written approval.
For information about how to contact us, visit this link