Alaska Cruise Excursion To Denali

[Travel Guru]

The best Alaska cruise excursion is a trip to the Denali National Park to see Mount McKinley up close. We've done it ourself, and I'm telling you that this will be a once-in-a-lifetime journey for you. The views at Denali/ Mount McKinley are so beautiful that you may think you are in heaven.

Mount McKinley (Denali) is the highest mountain in North America and perhaps the single most impressive mountain in the world--all higher peaks are in the greater Himalaya or in the Andes, part of enormous mountain ranges. Although McKinley is part of the Alaska Range, a massive ice-clad range of spectacular peaks, it so utterly dominates its area that what would otherwise be major ice peaks sometimes seem like mere foothills. McKinley rises almost alone, 16,000 feet above the snowline, with only nearby Mount Foraker even close to it in height.

It's hard to get a bird's-eye view of Mount McKinley. After all, Mount McKinley stands 20,320 feet above sea level--dwarfing the tall mountains around it. Mount McKinley is so big that it has its own weather system. Truthfully, it can be sunny in Anchorage and Fairbanks at the same time the mountain is socked in by clouds.

The best way to get up close and personal to Mount McKinley is to take an air tour. Two companies offer great air tours from differing perspectives. Talkeetna Air Taxi offers glacier landings on any number of glaciers, depending on weather conditions and the particular wishes of travelers. If you have a group of seven or eight travelers, request the special "Turbo Otter" that provides swift, quiet transportation.

Snow and weather conditions for climbing major Alaska Range peaks are usually best from May through July. Colder minimum temperatures and strong northwest winds commonly occur in May. Late June and July are warmer but more unsettled. By late July, travel on the lower glaciers is made difficult by melting snow bridges over crevasses and by more inclement weather with heavier snowfall and increased avalanche danger. The highest success rates occur in June. April is an excellent month for many of the lower peaks with conditions often cold and clear while the winter extremes still linger on Denali and Mt. Foraker. The coldest weather on Denali is found from November through April with average temperatures ranging from -30F to -70F recorder at the 19,000 foot level. It is not uncommon to find it -50F at the 17,200 foot camp in early May.

Denali National Park was originally established to protect its large mammals, not because of majestic Mount McKinley. Its population of Dall sheep and other wildlife were now legislatively protected. However, Mount McKinley itself was not wholly included within the boundaries. Charles Sheldon conceived the plan to conserve the region as a national park. Naturalist, hunter, and conservationist, Sheldon first traveled here in 1906 and again in 1907 with a packer and guide named Harry Karstens. (Karstens later made the first ascent of Mt. McKinley's south peak and would serve as the park's first superintendent.) Sheldon devoted much of his 1907 travels to studying boundaries for the proposed national park that would include territories suitable for a game refuge. When Sheldon returned to the East in 1908, the Game Committee of the Boone and Crockett Club, of which he was chairman, launched the campaign to establish a national park. Largely due to these efforts, Mount McKinley National Park was established in 1917.

Taking a cruise excursion to see Denali National Park and Mount McKinley is an opportunity that you don't want to miss. I'm sure that this will be the highlight of your vacation to Alaska, just as it was for us.

Have fun!