# You will land on a Glacier!

That is what I said to my older daughter. I also promised that they can make the biggest snowball that they like. Both my daughters loved the concept. Since they live in Houston, winter is nice and comfortable for them, but like many of their friends up north, they miss the snow. My girls also watch a TV show that they like a lot, called, [Molly of Denali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_of_Denali). It is about the lifestyle and daily activity of a 10 year old girl living in Denali National Park area. Molly's mom is a bush pilot. She is always taking Molly to all over the place in Alaska, and snow is a common feature there. Mind you, being a pilot in Alaska is like knowing how to drive a car (well not quite that much, but it is far more common to know how to fly a plane there than anywhere else in the world!). This is simply because, there are not much drivable roads in Alaska, and large part of the state can only be accessed by bush plane. Anyways, getting the long story short, I promised my girls and I will take them to Ruth Glacier, which is to the south side of Mt Denali and will have them land and play on the glacier.


<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/EqFvJVy3Zu8sATSvFkc5gnYagt9yRusCXtxWbozs2Hja24cAaG13oTvQnkCWVvno7Wg.png) </center>

<center> _10 passenger de Havilland Canada DHC-3 on Ruth Glacier_ </center>

I have another friend who flies commercially for a glacier landing company which does commercial tours and shuttles climbers to Mt Denali. I contacted Leanne before we were heading to Alaska to find out if she is available to give the girls a ride. She was kind enough to arrange a trip for us!

<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/EogQkL8YPTwiGtK9cBNF5mbpxSYXbe7VmBvbHdfo4sshVnPttj59fJtBmgA6tQ9hccj.png) </center>

<center> _Leanne and trainee pilot Amanda gave us a ride to Ruth Glacier_ </center>

It is always good to have friends, without good friends and good will there is little that can be done in this world. 


<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/Ep7xuW1RzVYKdqrNF8DNnyEAiHsC7izEt4RktpSbDEGcC75FyXDFrDs9Xn1iiseHMRf.png) </center>

<center> _Kids got snow in the middle of the summer!_ </center> 


<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/23xAkSm2sEt1QGgfv21sNwqqQeJCPexKs5t8vtRzXdmhyoa9ztdHvyzhH4ZZGGve7bXCX.png) </center>

<center> _And they made the biggest snowball that they possibly can!_ </center> 

Yeah, for them that is done and dusted. Next!

# To Get There!

I am always fortunate to be a geologist. Being an earth scientist with a career in exploration I have traveled all over the world, mostly to strange places, where many don't travel. Even I don't travel if not for work! However, one of the perks of traveling to strange places is that you get to know a lot of people. Also since of travel in 'strange places' together, you tend to form a friendship and bonding that you typically don't form in your typical business trips to London and Paris (Damn it! I want to travel to Paris on business!!).

Yeah, especially in Alaska, I have a lot of friends that I can call upon on favor. I shamelessly used it on this trip. I wanted to show the girls my workplace essentially. So, yeah, if you guys want to visit this place, it is possible to do commercially. There are flight services out of Talkeetna, AK that will take you there and get you to land on the Ruth Glacier. Look it up, its not that expensive.


<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/EoyRPfdgXV73THG45MCwNwQD5dTUFwUn9KgTGBdwmWVTTZchFXMmuX2Be9eM5RNtRGk.png) </center>

<center> _The Landing Zone_ </center>


<center> ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/azircon/23wCJFTefoxwWjyGQfxDwi7svHeHrA6UvrdRkA3k4A3AMCUN59FDQkRkzN3LjYchqCG6q.png) </center> 

<center> _Talkeetna, AK, and the Ruth Glacier on the Southern Flank of Denali_ </center>


It is relatively easy to get to Talkeetna as a day trip from Anchorage. It is about 120 miles to the north of the town and takes about two hours of driving time. Talkeetna is a nice dusty little town with a small main street and shops around it. It been loved too much by the tourists, so I wouldn't stay there. There are plenty of other places to stay nearby and lots of small towns around to get the proper Alaskan charm. However, it is an important bush plan destination and has the higher concentration of commercial bush pilots there. So to make the trip you got to visit it, and then tour companies will take care of it from there.

On this trip we didn't visit the conventional Denali National Park road, we find it crowded at this time of the year. We have visited it before and decided to skip it this time. That's about it. Highly recommended trip if you managed to get this far up north.


 



[//]:# (!pinmapple 62.902337 lat -150.667511 long Ruth Glacier, Denali National Park d3scr)

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