{"id":527,"date":"2025-08-27T13:44:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T13:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sstutor.com\/writings\/?p=527"},"modified":"2025-08-24T08:45:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T08:45:06","slug":"usa-2024-part-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sstutor.com\/writings\/usa-2024-part-15\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Part 15 – The grandeur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At 2 pm, the captain smoothly landed the plane on the glacier – it was a super smooth landing, and you could now appreciate the benefits of the glides on the aircraft. Barely felt a bump!
I was the last to board and was the first to step out of the plane after the captain. The exit door had a counterintuitive way to operate – you had to lift the handle upwards to open. Safer that way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(click on images to see it enlarged)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our flight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe back here in 10 minutes,\u201d the captain said after we all stepped down.
My first question on the glacier was, \u201cCan we see Denali?\u201d
And the captain, looking straight ahead in the direction that the plane was in, said, \u201cThat\u2019s the one – you see the peak clearly in the middle. That\u2019s Denali.\u201d
It was quite a distance away, but the tallest peak in the range was clearly visible. Many online posts had said it\u2019s hard to get a clear view of Denali because it is often cloudy at that height. We were lucky – the clouds were just beside the peak but didn\u2019t obstruct our view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From a distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mt. Denali<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The snow was soft and fluffy on the glacier, so your feet did sink into the snow, but not too far down either. In front of us was this vast track of snow, and further ahead, this track was flanked by the brown shades of the mountains, and above, a few clouds hovered in the blue skies. You could just stand and gaze at the sight – the sheer size of awesomeness in front and all around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With snow around, you can\u2019t resist making snowballs. Raghav and Rakesh started targeting one another, and we also joined in. It was summer, and here we were surrounded by whiteness. While we were on the glacier, we had the chance to witness another flight landing gracefully near ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The other flight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In action<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We took plenty of snaps and videos playing in the snow as well as with our propeller plane. We sat in the snow too, but do expect to get a little wet if you do that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe glacier we were on is a 3-mile glacier,\u201d he said as we soared above. \u201cThe blue patches you see in the snow are not water but ice – ice after a long time looks blue.\u201d
\u201cThere is no wildlife at this height. At lower levels, the snow is melting, and the green tundra is growing. In August, you\u2019ll see blueberry shrubs here, and bears come up to feed on them.\u201d
The captain steered the plane close to the mountain faces, but though we were moving at 150 mph, the land still moved very slowly below, indicating the sheer size of the mountain terrain.
\u201cThere are dead parts of the glacier where ice has melted, and the glacier is slowly receding. But there are hundreds of feet of ice below.\u201d The depth of these glaciers can be deceiving.
As we came out of the Alaskan ranges and onto the plains, we saw what seemed like small homes in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by greenery or by water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n