A few years ago, my wife and I spent the night at the Denali Overlook Inn, which, like so many Alaska getaways, is beautiful, spare and, in the summer, overflowing with sixty- and seventy-something males with rifles and fishing poles, seemingly in search of their inner frontiersmen. Almost all of them are retired financial planners and dentists and principals from places like Dallas and Dubuque.
The mountain is spectacular—the sprawling green forests that give way to sharp crags of gray rock that give rise to the white-silver ice rising to a peak of 20,310 feet. It’s the highest mountain in North America.
In a state filled with people who live there because of the outdoors, it is central to Alaska’s identity.
“I see it every clear day while driving locally. It’s awe-inspiring,” the world’s best-known Alaskan, former state governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, told The Free Press.