An Alpenglow Pizza

72 degrees out and my friend Carl and I go for a good pizza in Talkeetna, just a short drive up the road. At 11 pm we see Denali reveal herself, shrouded in alpenglow, with a bloodred sunset. These are the moments and the reasons we stay in Alaska.

Denali, the "High One," is the name Athabascan native people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600 mile long Alaska Range. Denali is also the name of an immense national park and preserve created from the former Mount KcKinley National Park. In 1917 Mount McKinley National Park was established as a wildlife refuge. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act enlarged the bounday by 4 milion acres and redesigned it as Denali National Park and Preserve. At 6 million acres, the park is larger than Massachusetts.

Ascending to 20,320 feet above sea level, it towers 18,000 feet above the tundra covered lowlands to the north. However, due to its grandeur, the "roof of North America' creates its own weather patterns, enshrouding it behind a fluffy veil, 60 to 65 percent of the time. Clear visibility occurs more often during the early morning than other times of the day.