I flew up to the toe of the Khiltna Glacier yesterday and landed at a little strip there. A rare clear day with Denali and Mt. Foraker shining above me. Calm. Not a breath of air moving. Hiked around a bit and then flew up Bear Creek to the Talchulitna Glacier, over the saddle to the Ruth Glacier Gorge and on up into the Sheldon Amphitheater.

I have lived up here for 21 years now and this was my first trip into the Gorge. All I can say is it was a very humbling experience.

You are surrounded by giants! Moose's Tooth, Broken Tooth, Bear's Tooth, Mt Dickey... You feel like a fly on the windshield. Some of these sheer granite walls are in excess of 5000'. Mt Dickey is the highest wall in the world. It would take two 3000' El Capitan's stacked to equal it's height.

I have read the ice of the glacier is 3700' thick and in excess of 1000 years old! Add that height to these walls if it ever melts.

I was a rock climber for many years. Never thought much about climbing things a 1000' or more in height. I have to tell you though, these things are and always have been out of my league. It literally made be sweat just thinking about what it would take to ascend one of these monsters. Respect to those men and women that do. Salute!

And all with Denali at 20,320' watching from above.

Me without a camera. Crappy phone photos that I will not waste your time with. I googled a bunch of photos and nothing will give you the scale of being there. If you get the chance, this should be high on your bucket list!

I'd settle for the cell phone pics. We missed the good weather by a few days.

This is better than any photos I have:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xllejtvOsdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgvIGSbMQNI

Best one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EHcLNSjsSE

A lot less snow yesterday. More bare rock.

Wish I'd been there to show you a few of my favorite spots...
Just left Talkeetna yesterday.

Wish I could have joined the fun Jeff. You're right...the Ruth (and most) of the Alaska Range is a majestic place. When we get on skis, I'll take you up to the Kichatna Spires. Another humbler! We really do need to hook up with Andy next year! He has it all dialed in by now, I'm sure. So does another Maule flyin' K2 pilot I know.

Andy Young wrote:Wish I'd been there to show you a few of my favorite spots...
Just left Talkeetna yesterday.

I am really sorry we missed each other this summer. I meant to call you back and reschedule but it obviously never happened. You coming back up next summer? I would love the tour!

Yea, I have eyeballed the Kichatnas. I've flown past but never really explored much. Sounds like a fun place for skies though! I'm in!

For those forum members that "relate" to mountains check out the movie trailer at: http://mountainmovie.com.au/ A new Australian movie directed by Jennifer Peedom. If you get a chance to view this movie do so.

VH-MEU wrote:For those forum members that "relate" to mountains check out the movie trailer at: http://mountainmovie.com.au/ A new Australian movie directed by Jennifer Peedom. If you get a chance to view this movie do so.

Holy cow!

I'm in awe of you guys that fly down south. Flew down to Wasilla for the first time Sunday and was thinking about flying by the Ruth glacier on the way down. When I switched the radio over to Talkeetna I hung a sharp left and crowded the hills to the east. Then it was worse on 122.8 was really humbled by that experience alone, couldn't imagine taking in all the sites and keeping up with the radio. You guys are good.

crbnunit wrote:

Andy Young wrote:Wish I'd been there to show you a few of my favorite spots...
Just left Talkeetna yesterday.

I am really sorry we missed each other this summer. I meant to call you back and reschedule but it obviously never happened. You coming back up next summer? I would love the tour!

Yea, I have eyeballed the Kichatnas. I've flown past but never really explored much. Sounds like a fun place for skies though! I'm in!

Yeah, I really let the summer go by too. Let's really make an effort next year. The list of fun places to go even in that small part of the range is really quite long. I will be back by April, if not before.

JDW wrote:I'm in awe of you guys that fly down south. Flew down to Wasilla for the first time Sunday and was thinking about flying by the Ruth glacier on the way down. When I switched the radio over to Talkeetna I hung a sharp left and crowded the hills to the east. Then it was worse on 122.8 was really humbled by that experience alone, couldn't imagine taking in all the sites and keeping up with the radio. You guys are good.

123.65 (freq for south side of the park) is an absolute nut show in mid-summer. Non-stop traffic sometimes with all of us doing tours and moving climbers. It can get pretty overwhelming trying to narrate a tour while listening to all that, and yet we have to in order to stay safe. That said, I still find that less annoying/distracting than listening to all the social chatter on 122.9 during hunting season, or 122.8 on a nice weekend. In my current job I rarely have to be on 122.9 or 122.8 You guys that deal with that all the time are TRULY impressive. It may be busy on 123.65, but it's all business; short, to-the-point position and intention calls.