Everyone who comes to Alaska is told numerous times by the locals that most tourists "never" see Mt. McKinley (or Denali as the locals call it), the tallest mountain in North America. The oft-quoted statistic is that the mountain is only "out" 20% of the time. When we called up here before our trip we were warned that this had been the "worst summer" weather-wise in history. So, we came prepared: Rain gear in tow, attitudes in check, ready to enjoy the "wild" of Alaska, if not all the beauty.
Over and over again, we were delightfully, deliriously surprised. The weather was way better than predicted. The rain mostly held off and we made do with cloud filled days that were good for fishing, fine for hiking and as good as we could hope for sight seeing.
The fishing turned out to be epic. The hiking was great. And the sight-seeing? Awesome at every turn. Abundant animals, beautiful scenes of mountains and skies filled with clouds that were interesting if not pristinely clear. We were thrilled, we even got glimpses of the base of Denali while in the park. All in all, nothing to be disappointed in at all.
And then we got this...
In an earlier post I said that all I wanted was a safe encounter with a grizzly bear and glimpse of Denali. Oh, the bliss when all expectations are exceeded. It is grace indeed.
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