Talkeetna, Alaska: A Most Charming Gateway to Denali National Park

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Denali is North America's tallest mountain, at 20,310 feet. National Park Service

TALKEETNA, Alaska—I dreamed of Alaska long before setting foot there. After my first trip to Denali National Park, I spent months marching around Manhattan in my weighted vest thinking about my return; Alaska had even taken over my waking hours.

In May 2018 my incessant dreaming coalesced into something inexplicable. It defies definition, though my best stab at it is gratitude. America’s last frontier has a way of overwriting the preconceived, presenting what you never expected. After all, how could you possibly know what’s missing, when Alaska is unlike anything else?

Waiting on Weather

For days we’d been waiting for “the call.” On the other end, Talkeetna Air Taxi would tell us about a good weather window, and to get there within a half hour to confirm our spots on the hop out to Kahiltna Glacier. Once there, my teammate and I, each equipped with 125 pounds of gear and 28 days’ worth of food, would be left to our own devices.