The Mountain is Out!

Aug. 12-15, 2008

Tuesday, Aug. 12 -- Today we drove into the backcountry to Teklanika campground to stay for four nights; Teklanika is at mile 29 on the park road. The Park Service imposes a minimum stay of three nights, and you are not allowed to drive your vehicle once you are there. Instead, you ride the shuttle buses to see the park. It was a beautiful day, with nary a cloud in the sky. Our hopes were up that the "Mountain", i.e. Denali, would be "out", meaning visible and not covered by clouds.

Denali is out

The first place where Denali is visible from the park road is at mile 9. The mountain was out! What a sight that was! A magnificent view even though the mountain is 72 miles away from this point. The south peak (elevation = 20,320 ft) is on the left and the north peak (elevation = 19,470 ft) is on the right. This picture was taken at 11:07 a.m.

This photo of Denali was taken 40 minutes later at about mile 17 on the park road. The mountain is still out! Maybe we can get even closer before it disappears behind some clouds.

view from Stony Overlook

We got to Teklanika, picked a campsite, had lunch, and hopped a shuttle bus to get closer to the mountain. This view was from Stony Overlook, which is at mile 61 on the park road, and is 38 miles from the mountain. What a magnificent view! This picture was taken at 3:45 p.m.; the mountain has been completely out almost all day. Some clouds are forming on the south peak and starting to obscure it, and some other clouds are appearing in front of the mountain.

By the time we got to the Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66, the clouds were covering more of the mountain; the south peak is obscured, and a layer of clouds is in front of the north peak. It seems to us that this view gives it a feeling of mystery. The mountain is 33 miles from here.
next day

Wednesday, Aug. 13 - We hopped the early morning shuttle and got to the Stony Overlook at about 9:15 a.m. The lower part of the moutain is clearly visible, and the upper part is in a fog, giving it a feeling of mystery again.

another view

We went on to the Eielson Visitor Center. The north peak had become visible, but the south peak is hiding from us.

Thursday, Aug. 14 - a view of the north peak and the tip of the south peak from mile 47 on the road. This is 46 miles from the mountain.

Friday, Aug.15 - the moutain is out, at least four days in a row! Wow! This view is again from the Stony Overlook.

Thirty minutes later, this was the view at the Eielson Visitor Center. Denali should be in the middle of this photo. But it is totally obscured by clouds. This is the most common view of Denali; it is visible only about 10 to 20 percent of the time, according to the rangers. We have seen it four days in a row, which is quite unusual. This is the our third visit to Denali National Park, and the first time that we have had more than a distant view of the mountain. The third time is indeed a charm!