Denali's windy peak from the north. The peak can easily reach -40F with wind chills exceeding -75F.






Looking quite windy up there.














A view you can't forget.












Close up view of a serac.








The largest glacier on Denali, Ruth Glacier. It moves at about 1-meter per day.






Once we exited the Denali National Park, it was another 15-minutes or so until we touched back down at Talkeetna Airport. 100% worth every penny and probably one of the best travel experiences I've had thus far.




After the flight, I headed about an hour north to the Denali South Viewpoint for sunset since I just hadn't gotten enough already lol. I stopped for this view on the way.




Denali during a rare clear sky sunset.




Day 3



With sunrise at almost 9 AM, I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it back down to the Anchorage area for sunrise. The plan for the day was to drive the Seward Highway south of Anchorage before heading back to the airport for my 10 PM flight to Minneapolis that evening.



I drove about 90-minutes to Reflections Lake, near Anchorage. It afforded pretty nice views for sunrise.




The sky basically exploded in color.




Good morning Alaska.




Partially frozen Reflections Lake.




A rather chilly 20F morning.




I continued the drive down the Seward Highway to Beluga Point. Below is the Alaska Railroad between Anchorage and the city of Seward.




Beluga Point. It was windy, cold and overcast; just as I had imagined Alaska.




Driving the Seward Highway.




Looking across Turnagain Arm, an inlet in the Anchorage area.




Mudflats. They're quite dangerous as they act like quick sand more or less.




Mudflats.




The scenery is still beautiful, even with the rather miserable weather.




I stopped off at this viewpoint of a glacier.




I started off on a short hike to Byron Glacier.




The main trail ended, which meant the next half mile or so was over jagged rocks.




Luckily temps were in the low 40s, so the moist rocks weren't icy.




This was my first time close to an actual glacier.




The Byron Glacier. There were several warning signs saying not to go into the ice cave, probably for good reason.




Another glacier on the mountain nearby.




Another glacier nearby. It was pretty hard to get bored on this hike given the views.




Hiking back through the rocks to the main trail.




Once I was back on the road, I decided to take a quick detour to Whittier, mostly just to drive through this very narrow and long tunnel. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is dual-use (rail and vehicle) and is the second-longest tunnel in North America. It's also only wide enough for one car (or train) at a time.




The Buckner Building, an abandoned former U.S. military building in Whittier.




A lookout point near Whittier.




Trees.