June 17, 2022 - Fairbanks, AK - 276 miles by motorcycle and 176 miles by airplane

We started riding at 7:30 am with 50 degree temperature. Susie was nice and warm in her electric heated jacket liner, gloves and seat. I was not. Macho man Terry decided to not use his electric heated vest and was pretty well frozen by the time we stopped in the town of Denali. 

We were stopping in Denali to meet with the guy I met at the Anchorage motorcycle shop but he couldn't make it so we drank coffee and ate some very good blueberry crumble. 

Our flight to Denali Mountain left at noon. We had a total of 7 passengers plus the pilot. For you motorheads out there the plane was a 1962 DHC-2 T De Havilland Beaver 2 made in Canada with a Pratt Whitney 680 hp gas turbine single propeller engine. It was a beautiful plane. 

It was also pretty tight inside. Susie got to sit in the co-pilot seat and I was right behind her. The other 5 passengers were a family visiting from Queens, NYC. The guy sitting next to me in the plane was 6 feet 4 inches tall and no lightweight. 

The flight was spectacular. We got up to an elevation of 11,000 feet which is 9,000 lower than the peak of Denali. The scale and context of the scenery from the plane is hard to grasp. At one point when I thought we were pretty close to Denali the pilot said we were 4 miles away and 10,000 feet lower than Denali's summit.

I got a little motion sick on takeoff but once the plane and I settled in I felt better.

On the glacier

https://youtube.com/shorts/JnFb4ikEdFc?feature=share

Just another day flying to a glacier 

Our land and air route today

The 1962 De Havilland plane we flew in

Bike, van and plane

Susie flying the plane

Terry aka "Maverick" on the stick

Nearing Denali

Denali in some clouds 

Denali North Peak on right, Denali South Peak to the left

Susie and me on a glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

Susie and me on the same glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

Susie and me on the same glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

The little black speck is a guy snowboarding after hiking to the top of the ridge

A luxury resort with private helicopter access you can rent for $8,000 a night per person

The resort from a distance 

Near Denali 

Blue pools of glacier water

Our runway