Where McKinley Would Be... Photo

Photographer’s Note

From this spot, Stony Hill, on the Denali National Park Road you would be able to see Mount McKinley on a clear day. You can in fact see the low foothills of what is North America's tallest mountain. So I was part of the 30 percent of the visitors that gets to see anything at all - I was lucky! The following morning I was able to see the top proportion of the mountain, but not the lower, so I almost saw all of it!

The land on this part of the trip is clearly tundra with its soft, sponge-like consistency. Essentially the ground is quite soft and warm for the first few inches, but below that it is frozen solid...this is the reason that there are no large trees or plants in this area.

If you continue on the road show above it takes you to Wonder Lake, a misquito infested lake with spectacular views of Mount McKinley (on a clear day) and the surrounding Alaska Range.

andante, kebek, summersun has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

poulinp (4464) 2006-06-19 22:00

Beautiful sight of this road which brings us towards these splendid mountains. I like the vast and lost side shown by the photograph. Well done Brian.

Cormac (26455) 2006-06-19 22:14

I'm one of the 70%! I remember travelling here with my parents when I was about 12. Totally covered by clouds, but my father woke up at about 2AM and got a perfect view of the mountain (remember that this is the land of the midnight sun). He never woke the rest of us up because he thought it would wait until morning, but by then it was totally covered by clouds again. I like the view of the road leading up toward the mountains, and the incredible sense of space in this - great work!

johnnyh (637) 2006-06-20 4:39

Very nice landscape, love the track trailing off into the distance all the way to those beautiful mountains, good work regards John.

andante (7092) 2006-06-20 6:30

It would be interesting to see a long exposure night shot of this place with the star trails and a car coming down the road... ooppss sorry daydreaming... yes it is that good, that it frees the imagination.

Cheers,
Enrique

kebek (5434) 2006-06-21 6:11

Serwus Brian !
And here an excellent framed pano from this amazing land. Once again, great use of the leading line of the road and fantastic warm light on the closest ridge. I'm just trying to imagine a single car somewhere on the way, that could add a scale to the scenery. Is it possible to drive through this fields with "normal" car, not a jeep or something heavy?
Best wishes,
Mat

nex (2686) 2006-06-22 3:46

Very nice, calm and peacefull with great colours= 2 points 2morrow;)
great day...;)
Michael

summersun (4964) 2006-06-30 4:38

nice contrast between the snow covered peaks and the tundra around the road. this reminds me of my trip to Peru, where for long periods of time, all we could see was this same landscape...it has a peaceful effect.
Vanessa