Having traveled up the Inside Passage (a great trip) two times, I wanted to see some more of Alaska - specifically, Denali (aka Mt. McKinley), the tallest mountain on the North American continent, and the Denali National Park. I found a trip that happily combined this with seeing a famous salmon run (and the grizzly bears that catch the salmon to build up their stores for their upcoming winter hibernation) AND with traveling around Prince William Sound. Prince William Sound is where the Exxon Valdez ran aground spilling record amounts of oil in this pristine wildlife area, killing untold numbers of animals. Where we traveled was north of where that tragedy occurred.

Alaska is picturesque and the urge to snap photos one after another is irresistible. I have done a major amount of deletion but this article is still long. I hope you enjoy it. Where there is an option to click on a link to see the full-size picture, I recommend it. It does help to get some sense of the size of things.

Caveat Emptor: Alaska is HUGE. Alaskans like to point out that if Alaska were to be cut in half, Texas would be the third largest state! If you look at a map of Alaska or of a part of Alaska with your usual distance parameters in your head, you will have some rude awakenings. Almost any trip from point A to point B will take something like 4 hours by motor vehicle and often more. As we moved from place to place, we often had full day-long trips. I think it was well worth it, but some may prefer shorter trips.