Talkeetna is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 1,055, up from 876 in 2010.
Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base-to-peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m), With a topographic prominence of 20,194 feet (6,155 m) and a topographic isolation of 4,621.1 miles (7,436.9 km), Denali is the third most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.
Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is a United States national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. The park received 594,660 recreational visitors in 2018.
Mount Foraker is a 17,400-foot (5,304 m) mountain in the central Alaska Range, in Denali National Park, 14 mi (23 km) southwest of Denali. It is the second highest peak in the Alaska Range, and the third highest peak in the United States. It rises almost directly above the standard base camp for Denali, on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier also near Mount Hunter in the Alaska Range.
Ruth Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its upper reaches are approximately 3 vertical miles below the summit of Denali. The glacier's "Great Gorge" is one mile wide, and drops almost 2,000 feet over 10 miles, with crevasses along the surface. Above the surface on both sides are 4,900-foot granite cliffs. From the top of the cliffs to the bottom of the glacier is a height exceeding that of the Grand Canyon. Ruth Glacier moves at a rate of three feet per day and was measured to be 4,000 feet thick in 1983.
Denali State Park is a 325,240-acre (131,620 ha) state park in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough adjacent to the east side of Denali National Park and Preserve, along the Parks Highway.
Barbara Washburn was an American mountaineer. She became the first woman to climb Denali on June 6, 1947. She was the wife and climbing partner of mountaineer and scientist Bradford Washburn.
Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. was an American explorer, mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer. He established the Boston Museum of Science, served as its director from 1939–1980, and from 1985 until his death served as its Honorary Director. Bradford married Barbara Polk in 1940, they honeymooned in Alaska making the first ascent of Mount Bertha together.
Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier of the Alaska Range in the U.S. state of Alaska. It starts on the southwest slope of Denali near Kahiltna Pass. Its main channel runs almost due south between Mount Foraker to the west and Mount Hunter to the east. The name was first reported as "Car-ilt-nu Glacier" by Alaska Range explorer Lt. J.S. Herron in 1902. An alternate name is Kagheltnu Li'a. Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range at 44 miles (71 km) in length.
The Revelation Mountains are a small, rugged subrange of the Alaska Range in Alaska, United States. They mark the furthest western extent of the Alaska Range. The range is rarely visited because of the flying time necessary to get there and also because of the notoriously poor weather conditions that are prevalent in the range. The highest peak in the range is Mount Hesperus.
Lowell Thomas Jr. was an American politician and film producer who collaborated with his father, the accomplished reporter and author Lowell Thomas, on several projects before becoming an Alaskan state senator in the early 1970s, and later the third lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1978. In the 1980s, he owned and operated Talkeetna Air Taxi, an Alaska bush flying service.
Donald Edward Sheldon was a famous Alaskan bush pilot who pioneered the technique of glacier landings on Mount McKinley during the 1950s and 1960s.
Kantishna is an unincorporated community in Denali Borough, Alaska, United States, within Denali National Park and Preserve. Founded as a gold mining camp in 1905, it endured longer than similar communities in the area, having been constructed nearest to the source of the gold. It lies in the Kantishna Hills at the junction of Eureka Creek and Moose Creek, 3 mi (5 km) northwest of Wonder Lake, and near the mouth of the Kantishna River. Although the community was once also called "Eureka", the Board on Geographic Names officially ruled in favor of "Kantishna" in 1944, the name given to the post office that was built at the site in 1905. Its elevation is 1,696 feet (517 m).
On 4 August 2018, a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by K2 Aviation crashed in poor weather near Denali, Alaska, United States. All five people on board survived the crash, but died before rescuers were able to arrive at the scene. The five people consisted of the pilot and four Polish tourists.
Radio Control Tower is an 8,670 ft (2,640 m) elevation nunatak located in the Southeast Fork Kahiltna Glacier valley in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated west of the Kahiltna base camp for mountaineers attempting to climb Denali or Mount Hunter. Access to the area is via air taxi from Talkeetna. Radio Control Tower is set 7.86 mi (13 km) south of Denali, 2.17 mi (3 km) northwest of Mount Hunter, and 1.3 mi (2 km) southeast of Mount Frances.
Mount Frances is a 10,450 ft (3,190 m) mountain summit located in the Kahiltna Glacier valley in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated north of the Kahiltna Glacier base camp for mountaineers attempting to climb Denali, Mount Foraker, or Mount Hunter. The summit of Mt. Frances is the best viewpoint from which to see all three giants from one location. Mount Frances is set 7.43 mi (12 km) southwest of Denali, 3.47 mi (6 km) northwest of Mount Hunter, and 1.3 mi (2 km) northwest of Radio Control Tower. Access to the area is via air taxi from Talkeetna. The mountain's name honors Frances Randall (1925-1984), the first Denali Base Camp manager for nine climbing seasons (1974-1983). She was planning a tenth season, but cancer claimed her life. Her expertise was instrumental in coordinating many rescues that saved lives and earned her the nicknames Guardian Angel of McKinley, and Kahiltna Queen. She was a member of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, often playing the violin at base camp over the CB radio. In 1964 she became the sixth woman to reach the summit of Mount McKinley.
On June 28, 2013, the centennial anniversary of the first ascent of Denali, Tom Choate was recognized as the oldest person to summit Denali at the age of seventy-eight years old. He has reached the peak of Denali multiple times, spanning across five different decades: in 1963, 1983, 1993, 2003, and lastly in 2013.
Kahiltna Queen is a 12,380-foot-elevation (3,773-meter) mountain summit in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Mount Laurens is a 10,042-foot-elevation (3,061-meter) mountain summit in Alaska.
Royal Tower is an 8,130-foot-elevation (2,478-meter) mountain summit in Alaska.
