Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley or Denali in Denali National Park, Alaska is the highest mountain in North America at a height of approximately 20,320 feet. Denali is so tall it creates its own weather and has recorded temperatures over the years at –100 degrees.

The first recorded attempt to climb Mount McKinley was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. This route has tremendous avalanche danger and was not successfully climbed until 1963. The first successful attempt came on June 7, 1913 when four Americans reached the summit. In 1990, Alaskan Norma Jean Saunders became the first woman to officially document a solo ascent of Mount McKinley. She climbed the West Buttress.

Today’s post could go on forever just with all the climbing attempts, successes and deaths to occur on Denali, but if you are that interested just Google it.

This photograph was taken in July 2007 from inside the park. The day before we were as close as you could get to McKinley without needing a special permit. That particular day was beautiful but McKinley created its own storms and was never visible. In over a week we only seen the mountain two times and both times it was here one minute and gone the next.