The Rosenblog: Day 16: An Indescribable Experience, Described

Monday, July 27, 2009
Morning plans today were divided in two groups: the brave and the not-so-brave. Ok, perhaps that's not quite fair, but I'll keep it. Dad, David, and I had an early morning flight to Mt. McKinley. But before we could go, we had to make sure luggage was outside our doors, breakfast was eaten, and everything was in order. After a last minute luggage swap, we were on our way. I opted not to eat breakfast. The thought of flying in a teeny tiny plane, bouncing around, did not do anything to settle my stomach. I didn't think eating would be a good plan.

A van from the flightseeing company picked us up at the lodge and drove us to the "airport" in the town of Healy. By airport, I really just mean an airstrip, thankfully paved. It was pretty cloudy outside, but we were assured that the mountain was out and things were a lot clearer over there. Apparently, yesterday's wind causes all flights to be grounded then so we were fortunate to be flying today instead. At the "airport," we were weighed and assigned a plane.

Our pilot seemed to have quite a bit of experience here, having spent the last couple of decades flying in Alaska during the summers. He winters in St. Thomas. It's such a tough life, clearly! Anyway, he gave us our safety talk once we were in the plane (it was a 10 seater, including the pilot/co-pilot seats). We were given a garbage back in case we felt the need to vomit, a juice box to help with ear pressure issues, a headset to hear everyone, and an oxygen mask for when we reached a certain altitude (the plane wasn't pressurized). Oh boy, this will be something. Dad and I were seated 3 rows back, right over the wing. David was seated behind us.

I will admit that there was a time after we took off that I thought I was going to throw up. The plane was really being thrown around due to the winds. Our pilot assured us that it would settle down as we got further into the park so I just spent a lot of time at the beginning concentrating on my breathing and trying not to make a fool of myself. I'm glad to say I succeeded.

It was kinda neat to fly along a similar route to the one we drove yesterday - it's just a totally different world up there. We were able to get pretty close to Mt. McKinley but unable to go about 20,000 feet and see the summit (and therefore didn't get to wear our oxygen masks, sniff). It was just too windy and unsafe. That was disappointing but overall, it was an amazing experience - the mountain tops, the snow, the unpredictable weather, etc. I can't imagine climbing a mountain like that... I took lots and lots of pictures with Sarah's fancy camera but they really don't do the actual scenery justice.

Images from our airplane:

Our lodge, from the air

Coming in for the landing

Shockingly, I looked back at David numerous times during the flight and he had dozed off. Seriously? Sleeping? That boy can sleep anywhere... He still swears he was just "resting his eyes" but I absolutely do NOT believe him. He had the whole head bobbing thing going on and everything. That was one expensive nap he took...

Dad...

David (awake)...

and Amy

We eventually had to return, which also meant we had to fly back into the really turbulent area, lucky us. We landed without any problems and waited around for the second plane to return so we could go back to the lodge. Overall, a very cool experience - I'd definitely like to try out other trips in tiny planes.

In front of our plane

We found the rest of the family upon our return. They had a quiet and relaxing morning. We had enough time for lunch before we had to catch a bus to go to the next lodge. We ate at the fancy restaurant, though lunch wasn't at all fancy.

Sophie helping Steve with breakfast

Exploring the great outdoors

Aren't we cute?!

The bus ride was mostly uneventful though the bus driver was the most irritating of all the guides on the entire trip. Not remembering his actual name, but recalling it was 3 letter with 2 vowels, Steve later renamed him Oaf. Oaf would not stop talking nearly the entire way. He also had to pull the bus over at some point to go to the bathroom (on the bus). He didn't win any bonus points from me. At all.

A less than exciting bus ride

He delivered us to the McKinley Lodge, another run by Princess. We were staying here for one night. It is named the McKinley Lodge because it has a great view of the mountain from the main building. Of course, it only has a good view if it is clear, which it was not. But it was pretty anyway - I liked that lodge overall better, though there was a lot less to do in the area. Our cabins were way far away and a bit of a pain to get to. The rooms were nearly identical to the previous lodge.

After getting settled in, we headed to dinner at '20,320' - their standard burger type restaurant. We were seated in the corner. Dinner was enjoyable, we had a great waiter, Jason. He was pretty entertaining and very tolerant of our dinner-table antics. After that, we hung out on the deck at the main lodge before calling it a night.