Getting a glimpse of Mt. Denali

[arthuryeo]

<p>What month of the year is the best to get a glimpse of Mt. Denali out of the clouds? Does it coincide with the salmon run?</p>

[jimstrutz]

<p>Usually the clearest weather in most of Alaska is in May & June. I would wait until late June if going to Denali, as spring comes late up there. A couple weeks after summer solstice often brings increased rain. There is often another change in the usual weather patterns a couple weeks after Winter solstice as well, but I have no idea why. However, weather in Alaska is quite unpredictable, and the only reliable thing you can say about it is that "usually the weather is unusual." Also Denali tends to make it's own weather. Typically there will be not a cloud in the sky anywhere, except right around the top of the mountain.</p>

<p>Various salmon specie start running at different times, at different areas. I stopped fishing years ago, but I think Kings & Reds start running in the Kenai by mid June, and Pinks a couple weeks later. The rivers on the northside of Cook Inlet are a week or two later than Kenai, I think. Some of those rivers drain the South & East sides of Denali. Silvers are usually running locally in late July and August. Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game have a web page that lists the usual salmon run times on various rivers. That's probably more accurate than my faulty memory. But from the middle of June through August you can find some sort of salmon running somewhere.</p>

[arthuryeo]

<p>Thanks, Jim, that's very helpful.</p>

<p> </p>

[bob_flood1]

<p>My only experience with this was last August/September. The silvers were still running on Kenai the last week of August.<br>

Last year was a wetter than usual year and, according to locals in Healy and in the park, the mountain had been visible on only 3 days until Labor Day weekend, and then it was out for 3 consecutive days. And we were there for all 3 of them! The mountain is 20,000 ft tall in a range with a second highest mountain at 10,000 and rest lower. McKinley is so much larger than anything else out there that it control the climate and makes its own weather. So it is going to be obscured in its own cloud cover most days. Obviously, the longer you can stay in the area the better your chances, but it's a game of chance no matter what.</p>

[arthuryeo]

<p>Thanks, Bob, I know it's a game of chance. I just needed to learn from you guys so that I pick a biased dice to roll. :)</p>

[Scott Ridgeway www.Scott]

<p>It's been twenty years since I've been to Denali. I remember that we chose the last two weeks of August and the first week of September because that when we were supposed to have the best chance of seeing the mountain. We did indeed see it for at least a few different days. It is truly spectacular.</p>

[steve_kaufman]

<p>Arthur, last summer was wet, and we didn't see the mountain very often. The summer before was dry, and we could see the mountain about 70% of the time. When it's clear, we can see the very top of the mountain from our house. May is too early to go into the park though the road has now been opened to Savage River, 14 miles in from the entrance. There isn't much snow at the park entrance this year, but I understand it's pretty deep in the west of the park. We live in a heavy snow area just south of Broad Pass in the Alaska Range; we still have 5 feet on the ground, and it's snowing today.<br>

For salmon, King Salmon show up in the Chulitna (we live about a mile from the river) the first week of July. Late June and July would be the times to see/catch salmon in streams that flow into Cook Inlet, and mid July would be when fish are in the Yukon near the Dalton Highway bridge. Fish arrive a bit earlier on the Kenai. </p>

[jeff_moravec]

<p>I didn't know the best times to see the mountain when I booked my trip there for this year, last week of August, so maybe I will be lucky. But a friend from the National Park Service says he knows employees there who have gone the whole season without seeing it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. </p>

[jimstrutz]

<p>Yeah, the weather was pretty bleak last summer. What ever happened to that global warming idea? Has everyone given up on that plan? I was looking forward to some nicer weather around here. :)</p>