The Great One - That's the common interpretation of the native Athabaskan name for Mt. McKinley, North America's highest mountain at 20,320 ft. in elevation. On a clear day the mountain can be seen in Anchorage 150 miles to the south and in Fairbanks 150 miles to the north and at many other point in between along the route of Alaska's own railroad. Nowhere is the view more spectacular than in the Talkeetna area where the summit is less than 40 miles distant as the crow flies. Here the ARR's southbound weekly passenger train, the Aurora, has paused to give the lucky visitors a spectacular view across the frozen Big Susitna River. This is what visiting Alaska and riding the Alaska Railroad is all about!Note: the photographer is a railroad employee with permission to be on the property and was wearing all required PPE while taking this photograph.
