Aerial Alaska
- Dave Parkhurst
- May 3, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 20, 2020
Experiencing Alaska from the air is the ideal way to feel dwarfed by the sheer expanse of this State.
By Bushplane, you can feel like a ‘mosquito’ flying next to walls of mountain thousands of feet tall…or, on a clear day, enjoy the ultimate scenic flight in a jet at 35,000 feet.
Either way, it is an experience that lasts a lifetime! The ultimate “Birds Eye View”!
Top: Mt. Hunter & Denali rise above the contrasting autumn colors blanketing the delta below at the southern edge of Denali National Park & Denali State Park.
The wild eastern outflow of the Copper & Martin Rivers of the Copper River Delta State Critical Habitat area with the Chugach Mountains & Ragged Mountains (foreground) from 32,000 feet.
2nd Row: Winter’s February sunrise on Mt. Hunter & Denali of the central Alaska Range, with golden light on the jagged Tokosha Mountains in the foreground, viewed from 13,000 feet.
Kodiak Island, the 2nd largest island in the US & 80th in the world, shows off its rugged coastline in the Gulf of Alaska at Dangerous Cape & Boulder Bay. Tidal forces & wave action are visible in this view from 35,000 feet.
3rd Row: Mt. Foraker rises 17,400 foot above a snow-white winter scene looking northward up the Lacuna Glacier, viewed from about 10,000 feet.
Center-top: The grand spires of the Tokosha Mountains stand in stark contrast to the green foothills below & the terminal moraine debris of the Ruth Glacier.
Center-bottom: Mt Foraker & Mt. Hunter are ‘islands in the clouds’ in this view from above Curry Ridge in the Talkeetna Mountains & Denali State Park.
Far right: A stunning view of the terminus & calving ice off massive Columbia Glacier with many of its associated branches filling the Chugach Mountains, in northern Prince William Sound, viewed from 35,000 feet.
Panorama: The impressive 5,000 foot granite monuments of the west-central Ruth Glacier stand like sentinels above the Ruth Gorge in the southern Alaska Range, within Denali National Park & Preserve.
In height, the top of the cliffs to the bottom of the Ruth Glacier surpasses the depth of the Grand Canyon. The Ruth Glacier moves about 3 feet/day & in 1983 measured 4,000 feet thick, but has receded much since that time.

Comments