Alaska I - The Mighty One!

It was about 10:00pm at night, but the Alaskan sun now hovered at an annoying location and blinded me as I drove towards our destination for the night - Talkeetna. As I squinted my eyes to look straight ahead, I saw an umbrage of something bigger than I had ever seen before. This giant shadow dwarfed the other tiny mountains in the front, and reached for the sky. Having never laid my eyes on something that enormous, my brain refused to believe that the outline was that of something rising from the ground. An hour later, with the help of a local map and an I-phone totting tech savvy friend, I convinced myself that this was not a figment of my imagination, but it was the tallest mountain in North America - Mt. McKinley!!

But my flabbergasted mind returned again, close to midnight, to convince itself of the inevitability. As I pulled over at the vista point, I knew I was looking at something extraordinary. Mt. McKinley rose about 4 miles from the ground, in a pyramid like fashion, almost touching the sky. Despite being 100 miles away, the size of the mountain was unmistakable! Now, the mountain was mocking me for getting excited earlier in the day at 5,000+ ft snow clad peaks. Alaska had always been a dream place for me, and for the first 2 days it seemed surreal that I was actually here. But the sight of Mighty One finally reminded me of the special land I was in, and would turn out to be defining point of the trip. The previous day I had seen grizzly bears cross road in front of me, I had seen moose and caribou gallop, porcupine scamper, and dall sheep graze on mountain tops. But no image would turn out to be as striking as the sight of the Mighty One. Mt. McKinley finally put things in perspective for me and definitely turned out to be the defining image of the trip.

Though they themselves undergo little change, Mountains actually have chartered the course of human history. They give rise to rivers, alter weather patterns and direct human migration. They establish the boundaries of cities and human civilization and constantly remind us of their importance. Visible for miles, they represent the final frontier for most human ambitions. The conquest to their summit, in many cases, is the ultimate test of human will power and achievement. Unperturbed by seasons, they stand guard and look down upon the world, fondly, and reflect upon their legacy.

Critics have called the Big Sur coast of central California as the greatest meeting of land and sea. I doubt if any of them have ever driven along the Seward Highway. Nestled between mountains and running parallel to the vast Alaskan water-body, this has to be the most scenic highway I have ever driven on. As one approaches the town of Seward, one is accompanied by the green mirror like waters of Kenai lake reflecting the snow off the towering mountains surrounding it. The town of Seward itself ensconces itself in the shadows of might snow clad peaks rising from the surface of the Resurrection Bay. Green chilly waters, and sheer jagged peaks make a match made in heaven, and Seward provides this feature galore.

Through my limited exposure to geography and television, I have always been fascinated by Fjords. Cruising along the Resurrection bay on that cold, rough Alaskan day I felt like my dream had finally come true. I hope someday I am fortunate enough to visit the Scandinavian Fjord lands of Norway, and the eight wonder of the world in New Zealand - Milford Sound. Most people were excited by the abundant wildlife in the sea; and I too, was bamboozled by humpback whales, defying gravity and dynamics, and leaping 10 ft above the ocean floor. But at the foot of these eternal mountains all the wildlife and the merry humans on the boat that day, represented only a minuscule passage of time. The Tall Ones had sheltered and entertained life for thousands of years, and will continue to do the same for many a millennia to come, but in a world replete with change, the constancy of their existence stood in stark contrast!!