Helicopter Glacier Landing

I thoroughly enjoyed every excursion I took on the Twitter trip sponsored by Princess Cruises, but I think that the glacier helicopter landing may have been my favorite. This was only time I EVER got to check two adventures off my Bucket List in the same day! (ride in a helicopter and walk on a glacier).

Hopefully this video will give you a little feel for the awesomeness of this adventure!

We took off from a helipad located just across the river from the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. The flight was much smoother than I had anticipated. The Beaver plane that we took to the summit of Mt. McKinley flew over the range of mountains. On the helicopter, we got to fly in between the mountains. It was amazing to watch as the landscape below us changed from green hills to snow covered mountains.

 

I took a piece of the glacier for a souvenir but I couldn't seem to find it when I got back to the lodge.

Good thing I got this picture:)

I Have Been to the Mountaintop!

I've always wanted to go to the summit of Mt. Mckinley. Thanks to an invitation by Princess Cruises to participate in a Twitter Press trip to Alaska, I got to check another item off my bucket list! Shortly after we settled into the Denali Princess Lodge, we took a short ride to the airfield where several of the Twitteratti and our escorts from Princess Cruises hopped on a 1966 Beaver Plane and headed towards the summit!

Here we are pictured with Canada's Adventure Couple, the famous Dave & Deb, along with Karen, Nicole, and Guy (from Princess Cruises) and of course our pilot, Jim Andie (we kinda needed him.)


Sure, Mt. Everest is the highest point on earth, but the  Mount McKinley's vertical rise is nearly 6000 feet higher than Mount Everest from base to summit (Everest sits on the Tibetan Plateau which is17,000 feet above sea level to begin with)

For most of the flight everyone was quiet, taking in the beauty of the scenery. It was almost a spiritual experience.

At one point it looked as though we were going to fly right into the mountain. Someone asked the pilot, "shouldn't you like be turning or something about now?"  The pilot replied "Naw, we're still about five miles away."

After we landed, I got to interview Jim Andie, a man who has traveled all over the world and is living his bucket list.  When asked where he'd like to go, Jim said, "anywhere I haven't been."  Man,  I LOVE that!!

Kansas City Tweet-Up

One of the cool things about my job is that I get to meet some awesome people and ask 'em what's on their bucket list.

Here are a few awesome new friends I met at a "Tweet-Up" at Waldo Pizza in Kansas City. 

What's on your Bucket List?