We took the 11am flight around Denali and land on a glacier. I can’t imagine a better way to see the mountain and get a sense for how big it is!
We had 5 total in our plane (including the pilot). The pilot did an excellent job describing the landscape and giving us a sense for the vast expanse we were flying over.
We rose to about 12,000 feet on a party cloudy day. We saw incredible views the entire way, including the peak of Denali. We were also able to see one of the base camps of the mountain climbers who were about halfway to the top.
As amazing as seeing Denali up close, landing on the glacier made the trip for us. After a smooth landing, we walked on untouched snow which sat on top of about 2,000 feet of ice. Because of how high the mountains are (granite walls rising 5,000 feet) I found it almost impossible to put anything into perspectives that my mind can comprehend. When we listened quietly, we could hear small landslides occurring on the granite shelves.
We had some issues with our schedule and the folks at Talkeetna were extremely accommodating. Overall the service and experience were excellent from beginning to end!
Quick tips: we went on a warm day (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and were glad to have a decent jacket in the plane and on the glacier. Also we wore hiking boots and didn’t need to borrow the shoe covers. Sitting up front in the plane is terrific, but the curvature of the plane glass will limit some of the photo opportunities (at least straight on). You can still take photos through the side windows while sitting up front.