Had a decent night at this fairly quiet pull-out, though we weren't exactly level, we were fairly sheltered from the road. Headed back to town around 9:30 to see about tickets for the Hurricane Turn flag stop train (which we learned about on Trip Advisor), but as we came over the brow of the hill, we noticed a bunch of cars parked in a scenic view off to the left, and in moments, we knew why. Despite the fact that it was cloudy overhead in Talkeetna, off in the the distance, the mountain range, including Denali (Mt. McKinley) was absolutely clear as a bell. The clouds were moving from the south fast, so immediately after going to the train depot and learning they didn't even open until 10:00, we headed straight for the airport, to K2 Flightseeing. Though we didn't have a reservation, they managed to get us on a flight that took us exactly where we wanted, around the entire summit, no glacier landing, leaving within 30 minutes, perfect! It did leave a little later, but we still managed to reach the mountain while it was still clear, and we worked our way around to the Wickersham Wall on the north side, just as the bank of clouds starting butting up against the south summit, it was gorgeous! What a fantastic ride! We came so close to the mountain, we felt like we could reach out and touch it! Our pilot was a former Cessna test pilot, and the plane was a larger twin engine (two engines always make me feel safer than one), and he did a fantastic job of weaving in and out of peaks and valleys, it was breathtaking. It will be very hard for anything after this to top this experience. Outstanding! We passed over several glaciers, and he pointed out all the highlights without getting overly chatty, we couldn't have asked for more. Worth every nickel! By the time we headed back, we ran into some rain, so our timing was absolutely perfect! Afterward we drove into town and spent a little time walking around, spending nearly two hours in the local historical museum (while other tourists raced around us... their loss) had a bite to eat and a beer at the Brewhouse, before eventually heading back out to a different overnight spot just a bit further out of town than the last one, but it's set back more off the road and has a better screen of trees in the front for more privacy, plus it was more level. A perfect day!
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