Alaska Part 3 : Talkeetna & Denali

Talkeetna is known as the gateway to Mt. Mckinley (recently renamed to Denali, but it was Mckinley when we went there so that’s what I’m gonna call it). It is where climbers of the treacherous mountain have stayed before starting their trek for generations. It was a really fun town with a lot of history behind it. One of the highlights of this place was the Talkeetna Roadhouse, where we enjoyed multiple meals. People from all over the world stay and eat here before adventuring, and the food was just what we needed after camping in a tent. Hot and delicious! We didn’t stay at the roadhouse, but we did find a great campsite right next to the Talkeetna river where we enjoyed a great sunset the night before our grand adventure. 

Okay, the following adventure was by far our favorite part of the trip. We had a hard time deciding whether we were going to do it or not because it was pretty expensive, but we are SO glad that we did. We took a plane ride up and around Mt. Mckinley! We got lucky because we got to ride in the plane all by ourselves with our pilot, who was a really cool guy. Tay tried to get him to let him fly the plane a little but he wouldn’t let him. This was literally one of the coolest things we have ever done in our lives, and we kept saying that throughout the whole plane ride. The views of Mt. Mckinley and the surrounding mountains around it can’t adequately be described. We were up in the clouds navigating around the mountains, it was one of the most beautiful sights we’ve ever seen. This is a must do if you ever visit Alaska. 

This was kind of a cool pic of another plane the same size as the one we were in below us. 

Denali National Park was our last stop on our trip. It was fun because we were able to meet up with my brother Ryan who was living in Alaska for the summer as well. Some of the highlights of our time in Denali were hanging out with some sled dogs and seeing a bunch of grizzly bears on our bus tour in the park! Luckily Ryan brought some binoculars with him because we didn’t think that far ahead. It was amazing to see these creatures in the wild, they are enormous! I am glad we weren’t super close to them because that would have been a little more scary. We did see some Caribou as well, and those guys have the biggest antlers I’ve ever seen in my life.

We loved our trip to Alaska, especially because we were able to spend time with our brothers! We can’t wait to start traveling with our little boy next year, it will make these adventures even better.