We saw the mountain!

On the way back from Denali, the clouds started to lift, and the sun came out. We stopped in that beautiful area we've come to call "our valley," and took more photos. As we were pulling out, I looked up and saw a white peak cresting just above a line of clouds. I whipped out the binoculars and said, "Ron LOOK! It's Denali!!!" We were still just a few miles outside the park, so that 20,320 foot elevation was absolutely astonishing. It's not the tallest mountain in world, but it has the greatest gain in elevation. It juts straight up to its full elevation. I can't even explain how massive and breathtaking it is.

You may have noticed that I referred to it as "Denali." In that area, most Alaskans call the peak "Denali" even though nationally it's recognized as Mt. McKinley. I preferred to call it Denali (the great one) as well. Go to this site for more information on the fascinating conflict over the peak's name: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/liesacrossamerica.htm

When we were in the park gift shop, we saw a 30% pin. The cashier explained that only 30% of the people who come to the park ever see Denali because it's so often in clouds on the south side. We felt very fortunate to be in that minority and decided to get to the state park lookout site as fast as we could. We kept getting tantalizing and majestic glimpses of the mountain the whole 2 hours to the state park lookout point. The difference from our first stop there was amazing. Even from hours away, Denali was so imposing and gorgeous. Yay! We saw it!!