Flew around Denali

Posted by natdm@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 18 comments

[https://youtu.be/0gPWf6VHZrw](https://youtu.be/0gPWf6VHZrw) Flew around Denali at 16,500. It was easily the best part of Alaska for us, and it was only an hour. We flew around Homer, Talkeetna, all the way through Canada and back. Wonderful views but this was what my wife was most excited about. I did a lot of research (including asking questions here) and I probably over-thought it. We flew up Ruth Glacier to the great Gorge. We had about 2 hours planned, but the clouds blocked in a lot of the routes we wanted to do, including 747 pass. It did make it look like a whole other world, though. We spiraled up to go see Denali, and it was awesome. The entire flight was super smooth, almost no winds. The caps scared me off of getting too much closer than I was, but there were no drafts at all. The pilots flying in the area even corrected us on some namings and gave us some ideas for next time. Fantastic people.

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18 Comments

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CactusPete@reddit

Fantastic vid! And write-up! Well done! Out of curiousity, did you carry any special emergency gear? Looking at those long long stretches of snow and (i assume) glaciers, I start thinking snow boots, tent, polar bear rifle, three weeks of food, radios, sat phone . . . .

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Impossible-Bad-2291@reddit

| polar bear rifle There aren't any polar bears in Denali National Park. Polar bears are marine mammals. They'd be up by the Bearing Sea, 450 NM further north.

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CactusPete@reddit

it was a whimsical comment, that guy

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natdm@reddit (OP)

Garmin in-reach, extra beacon, radio, bear spray (rifle is tougher to get across Canada), day or two of food, etc. Crashing in the Denali would absolutely not mean 3 weeks of waiting. There were multiple planes there the entire time. Most of them could have landed to pick us up or call S&R. Most of the stuff we had was mainly for Canada legally.

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christianshbell@reddit

This is the pinnacle of a post for this sub: An amazing experience only possible in an aircraft, with video to share. Looks like you had spectacular weather the whole way around. When we flew with K2 in Talkeetna four years ago, the weather was good but not perfect, so we missed seeing the summit. Great to see it vicariously through your sharing here. Thanks for sharing this with us all.

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time_adc@reddit

Awesome. What aircraft did you use? Pressurized?

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natdm@reddit (OP)

Ah, forgot to include that. Edited to add it. M20K 231.

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time_adc@reddit

Very cool. What is "747 pass"?

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DirkChesney@reddit

If I remember right working tours up there it’s a pass wide enough to fly a 747 through it

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patelivision@reddit

How is the camera mounted?

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MattCW1701@reddit

Dumb question, maybe better relegated to Moronic Mondays, but is there's still Class G airspace up Denali through 18,000? Or is Class A airspace a hard cutoff? There are literally only two peaks in the United States that breach 18,000, and the other one (also in Alaska) by 9ft so it's not exactly going to be a common issue.

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natdm@reddit (OP)

My understanding is it's still A. You can get an IFR plan to circle by asking for it in notes. They'll probably give you IFR but then say maintain VFR around the mountain and report back on course or something -- that's what I've heard. We stayed at 16500 westbound to avoid it.

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Mid_Atlantic_Lad@reddit

I think it’s best to stick with Denali as its name now, as I’m 90% sure that its official name will be re-reverted back to Denali in 3 years time.

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554TangoAlpha@reddit

That and any Alaskan would laugh at you saying McKinley.

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Pileopilot@reddit

I remember years ago, when the Guard still had the C-23, we made a run from Anchorage up to Fairbanks to deliver something, and we decided to summit the mountain while staying VFR the whole time. The weather was nearly perfect, and we climbed almost all the way up, huffing through our O2 masks—one of the only times I actually remember needing to use it on a flight. As we got closer to the top, it started to get a bit rough, so probably 500 to 1,000 feet from clearing it, we bagged out. Then we ripped low level all the way back down toward Talkeetna and on to base. When I close my eyes and think back, I can still see it off the left wing as we flew north—sun just starting to rise, illuminating it through orange and purple skies. I really miss that job, nothing has compared in the decade plus since.

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natdm@reddit (OP)

Not sure how to explain it but when we have days like that, it just makes it harder to go back to work, or go grocery shopping, or anything normal.

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Impossible-Bad-2291@reddit

Awesome! That's what flying is all about. It's more ephemeral than climbing in so far as you aren't immersed in that environment in the same way when flying through as you would be when climbing, but you get to be there in another way and it touches your soul.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity: --- [https://youtu.be/0gPWf6VHZrw](https://youtu.be/0gPWf6VHZrw) Flew around Denali at 16,500. It was easily the best part of Alaska for us, and it was only an hour. We flew around Homer, Talkeetna, all the way through Canada and back. Wonderful views but this was what my wife was most excited about. I did a lot of research (including asking questions here) and I probably over-thought it. We flew up Ruth Glacier to the great Gorge. We had about 2 hours planned, but the clouds blocked in a lot of the routes we wanted to do, including 747 pass. It did make it look like a whole other world, though. We spiraled up to go see Denali, and it was awesome. The entire flight was super smooth, almost no winds. The caps scared me off of getting too much closer than I was, but there were no drafts at all. The pilots flying in the area even corrected us on some namings and gave us some ideas for next time. Fantastic people. --- Please downvote this comment until it collapses. Questions about this comment? [Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods](https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/wiki/index/rflyingtower/). --- I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please [contact the mods of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/flying).