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103-489: Two different theories postulate that the spit originates either from the tidal swells and currents of Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay over millennia of sand buildup, or that it was pushed into place by now-retreated glaciers . The Dena'ina called the spit Uzintun , meaning "extends out into the distance". In 1899, the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company laid a railroad track along the spit, connecting

206-643: A megathrust earthquake occurred when over 600 miles of the Aleutian fault ruptured, uplifting the Kenai Mountains 60 feet (20 meters) in under 5 minutes. With a magnitude of 9.2, the earthquake was the fourth largest ever recorded. It devastated Anchorage where much of downtown dropped several stories, and the mountains surrounding the Turnagain Arm subsided 8 feet (2.4 meters), submerging the towns of Portage and Girdwood, as well as long stretches of

309-619: A Fairbanks tavern. By March 1910, the men had established a base camp near one of the sites where the Brooks party had been and pressed on from the north via the Muldrow glacier . Unlike some previous expeditions, they discovered a pass, since named McGonagall Pass, which allowed them to bypass the Wickersham Wall and access the higher reaches of the mountain. At roughly 11,000 feet (3,353 m), Tom Lloyd, old and less physically fit than

412-572: A corner of the Pacific Plate subducts under the North American Plate , uplifted the ocean floor and compressed it, causing the crust to thicken and scrunch . Tectonic forces lifted the mountains and peninsula out of the water, forming a valley that was cut off from the ocean to the north and the west. The rest of Alaska's mountains were formed in the same manner, in cyclic events, and the mountain ranges become progressively older

515-463: A couple of rivers. Cook sailed up Turnagain Arm in his ship, HMS  Resolution , finding it impossible to navigate against the strong currents and mudflats, and got stuck on a sandbar when he tried to get back out, having to wait for the tide to come in and free his ship. He never actually confirmed it led to a river, which led to a decade of massive speculation until George Vancouver returned to finish

618-417: A mean of 30 feet (9.1 m), and the fourth highest in the world, behind Bay of Fundy (38 ft, 11.7 m), Ungava Bay (32 ft 0 in, 9.75 m), and Bristol Channel (31 ft, 9.6 m). The ocean's natural 12-hour 25-minute tidal cycle is close to Turnagain Arm's natural resonance frequency, which then reinforces the tide similar to water sloshing in a bathtub. Tidal fluctuations in

721-556: A meteorological station on a ridge near the summit of Denali at an elevation of 18,733 feet (5,710 m) in 1990. In 1998, this weather station was donated to the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks . In June 2002, a weather station was placed at the 19,000-foot (5,800 m) level. This weather station was designed to transmit data in real-time for use by

824-403: A party directed by Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens , along with Walter Harper and Robert Tatum . Karstens relocated to Alaska in the gold rush of 1897, and in subsequent years became involved in a variety of endeavors beyond mining, including helping establish dog mushing routes to deliver mail across vast swathes of territory and supporting expeditions led by naturalist Charles Sheldon near

927-587: A request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula , whose district included McKinley's home town of Canton . On August 30, 2015, just ahead of a presidential visit to Alaska, the Barack Obama administration announced the name Denali would be restored in line with

1030-598: A shoestring budget" without any other experienced climbers. The party navigated up the Cook inlet and followed the path of the 1902 Brooks party towards Denali. Cook approached the mountain via the Peters Glacier, as Wickersham had done; however, he was able to overcome the ice fall that had caused the previous group to turn up the spur towards the Wickersham Wall. Despite avoiding this obstacle, on August 31, having reached an elevation of about 10,900 feet (3,322 m) on

1133-527: A temperature of −74.4 °F (−59.1 °C) combined with a wind speed of 18.4 miles per hour (29.6 km/h) to produce a North American record windchill of −118.1 °F (−83.4 °C). Even in July, this weather station has recorded temperatures as low as −22.9 °F (−30.5 °C) and windchills as low as −59.2 °F (−50.7 °C). According to the National Park Service , in 1932

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1236-574: A visit with Russian fur trader Gerasim Izmailov in Unalaska , and combined these maps with those of his expedition to create the first Mercator projection of the North Pacific. The inlet was named after Cook in 1794 by George Vancouver , who had served under Cook in 1778. Turnagain Arm was named by Cook, "turnagain" being a moniker he had used before, at his annoyance at having to turn around after exploring another dead end. Upon reaching

1339-492: A year later. The mountain is climbed regularly nowadays. In 2003, around 58% of climbers reached the top. But by that time, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers. The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn , after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbers typically take two to four weeks to ascend Denali. It

1442-487: Is an easily accessible and inexpensive salmon fishery. There is even a ramp for those who have to use wheelchairs. During the summer months it can become very crowded if there is an active salmon run occurring, and there is additional competition from harbor seals who often enter the lagoon to chase salmon. The official name is a tribute to the biologist from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who proposed

1545-553: Is caused by stresses created by the low-angle subduction of the Yakutat microplate underneath Alaska. The Denali Fault Bend is characterized as a gentle restraining bend. The Denali Fault Bend represents a curvature in the Denali Fault that is approximately 75 km long. This curvature creates what is known as a "space problem." As the right-lateral movement along the Denali Fault continues, high compressional forces created at

1648-422: Is exposed, making marine navigation difficult. Historically, ships and boats designed for the area had a relatively flat bottom with a modest centerboard and absence of a large keel because the boats would occasionally become beached at low tide either on purpose or by accident. This design allowed the craft to support its weight on land without sustaining any serious damage to its structure. An example of this design

1751-498: Is known locally as the "fishing hole". Every spring it is stocked with salmon fry from the Trail Lakes hatchery facility. The fry are fed by volunteers so that they will imprint on the location in the normal manner of salmon. They then proceed to live normal lives as wild salmon, returning as adults to the lagoon due to their instinctual desire to mate and spawn. The lagoon is a popular attraction for both tourists and locals, as it

1854-716: Is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This was perhaps due to local hunt, although an article in the Anchorage Daily News questioned this conclusion. Killer whales commonly feed on belugas in the Cook Inlet, driving them to the upper part of the inlet where they often seek refuge in the shallower waters of the arms. In 2000, the US National Marine Fisheries Service listed

1957-668: Is one of the Seven Summits ; summiting all of them is a challenge for mountaineers. On August 4, 2018, five people died in the K2 Aviation de Havilland Beaver (DHC-2) crash near Denali. From 1947 to 2018 in the United States "2,799 people were reported to be involved in mountaineering accidents" and 11% of these accidents occurred on Denali. Of these 2,799 accidents, 43% resulted in death and 8% of these deaths occurred on Denali. The Japanese Alpine Club installed

2060-584: Is primarily used to fuel commercial fertilizer production and a liquified natural gas (LNG) plant and to Anchorage where the gas is consumed largely for domestic uses. Alaska has approximately half the known coal reserves in the U.S. For decades, there has been a proposal to build a large coal mine (the Chuitna Coal Mine ) on the west side of Cook Inlet near the Chuitna River , and the native village of Tyonek, Alaska . American Rivers placed

2163-564: Is the third most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua . Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska , Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve . The Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as "Denali" for centuries. In 1896, a gold prospector named it "Mount McKinley" in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley , who later became

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2266-463: Is the Nomad, a much photographed fishing boat once owned by Joe Reddington which has sat on a mudflat near Knik for several decades. These mudflats can also be dangerous to walk on, exhibiting quicksand -like characteristics, and have claimed the life of at least four people who have wandered out on them, usually tourists, with many more being rescued every year. Cruise ships dock at Seward on

2369-486: Is the Russian translation of Denali . It was briefly called Densmore's Mountain in the late 1880s and early 1890s after Frank Densmore, a gold prospector who was the first non-native Alaskan to reach the base of the mountain. In 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley , who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized

2472-497: Is the highest mountain peak in North America , with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level . It is the tallest mountain in the world from base-to-peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m), with a topographic prominence of 20,194 feet (6,155 m) and a topographic isolation (the distance to the nearest peak of equal or greater height) of 4,621.1 miles (7,436.9 km), Denali

2575-613: The New York Sun that appeared on January 24, 1897. His report drew attention with the sentence "We have no doubt that this peak is the highest in North America, and estimate that it is over 20,000 feet (6,100 m) high." Until then, Mount Logan in Canada's Yukon Territory was believed to be the continent's highest point. Though later praised for his estimate, Dickey admitted that other prospector parties had also guessed

2678-633: The "fake peak" photograph of Barrill standing on the promontory. It showed a wider view of surrounding features, appearing to definitively discount Cook's claim. Given the skepticism concerning Cook's story, interest in claiming the first ascent remained. Miners and other Alaskans living in Kantishna and Fairbanks wanted the honors to go to local men. In 1909, four Alaska residents – Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall – set out from Fairbanks , Alaska during late December with supplies and dogs that were in part paid for by bettors in

2781-571: The Alaska Railroad along the eastern shores of Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm of Cook Inlet around 1915. The natives of the Eklutna village are the descendants of the residents of eight native villages around upper Cook Inlet. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake , areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet (2.4 m) by subsidence and subsequent tidal action. Both hamlets were destroyed. Girdwood

2884-575: The Alaskan Athabascan names for Denali. The Koyukon Athabaskans , living in the Yukon , Tanana and Kuskokwim basins, were the first Native Americans with access to the flanks of the mountain. A British naval captain and explorer, George Vancouver , is the first European on record to have sighted Denali, when he noted "distant stupendous mountains" while surveying the Knik Arm of

2987-616: The Aleutian Islands and Koniag natives from Kodiak , to hunt for sea otters and other marine mammal species for trade with China via Russia's then-exclusive inland port of trade at Kiakhta . Other Europeans to visit Cook Inlet include the 1778 expedition of James Cook , its namesake, who sailed into it while searching for the Northwest Passage . Cook received maps of Alaska, the Aleutians, and Kamchatka during

3090-421: The Chuitna River on its list of America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers of 2007, based on the threat of this mine. Turnagain Arm is one of only about 60 bodies of water worldwide to exhibit a tidal bore . The bore may be more than six feet (1.8 m) high and travel at 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) on high spring tides and opposing winds. Turnagain Arm sees the largest tidal range in United States, with

3193-584: The Cook Inlet on May 6, 1794. The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin explored the Tanana and Kuskokwim rivers in 1843 and 1844, and was likely the first European to sight the mountain from the other side. William Dickey, a New Hampshire -born resident of Seattle , Washington who had been digging for gold in the sands of the Susitna River , wrote, after his returning from Alaska, an account in

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3296-579: The Gulf of Alaska or Whittier in Prince William Sound and transport passengers via bus or train to Anchorage. However, over 95% of freight entering Alaska comes through the Port of Anchorage , which is served by major container ship companies and other carriers. The Cook Inlet beluga whale is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated stock. The population fell to 278 in 2005 and it

3399-429: The Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska . Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its southern end, it merges with Shelikof Strait , Stevenson Entrance, Kennedy Entrance and Chugach Passage. The Cook Inlet and both its arms are bodies of brackish water , containing a turbid mix of ocean salt-water and freshwater runoff from

3502-461: The Kantishna river by steamer , before offloading and following Chitsia Creek with a poling boat, mules and backpacks, a route suggested to them by Tanana Athabaskan people they met along the way. The party received further navigational assistance at Anotoktilon, an Athabaskan hunting camp, where residents gave the group detailed directions to reach the glaciers at the foot of Denali. On reaching

3605-589: The Knik River , the Little Susitna River , the Susitna and Matanuska rivers , Eagle River , Ship Creek , Resurrection Creek , Portage Creek, Kenai River , and many others. The watershed includes the drainage areas of Denali (formerly named Mount McKinley) and is the collection point for the runoff from many surrounding glaciers, leading to the high turbidity and large silt deposits. Within

3708-607: The Tibetan Plateau at a much higher base elevation. Base elevations for Everest range from 13,800 ft (4,200 m) on the south side to 17,100 ft (5,200 m) on the Tibetan Plateau, for a base-to-peak height in the range of 12,000 to 15,300 ft (3,700 to 4,700 m). Denali's base-to-peak height is little more than half the 33,500 ft (10,200 m) of the volcano Mauna Kea , which lies mostly under water. Denali has two significant summits:

3811-421: The U.S. Geological Survey measured the mountain at 20,310 feet (6,190 m) high, 10 ft lower than the 20,320 feet (6,194 m) measured in 1952 using photogrammetry . Denali is a granitic pluton , mostly pink quartz monzonite , lifted by tectonic pressure from the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate ; at the same time, the sedimentary material above and around

3914-486: The United States Weather Bureau and found to be accurate. The lowest temperature that it had recorded was found to be approximately −100 °F (−73 °C). Another thermometer was placed at the 15,000-foot (4,600 m) level by the U.S. Army Natick Laboratory , and was there from 1950 to 1969. The lowest temperature recorded during that period was also −100 °F (−73 °C). Besides

4017-579: The first ascent , but this ascent is unverified and its legitimacy questioned. The first verifiable ascent to Denali's summit was achieved on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck , Harry Karstens , Walter Harper , and Robert Tatum , who went by the South Summit. In 1951, Bradford Washburn pioneered the West Buttress route, considered to be the safest and easiest route, and therefore the most popular currently in use. On September 2, 2015,

4120-577: The 25th president; McKinley's name was the official name recognized by the federal government of the United States from 1917 until 2015. In August 2015, 40 years after Alaska had done so, the United States Department of the Interior announced the change of the official name of the mountain to Denali. In 1903, James Wickersham recorded the first attempt at climbing Denali, which was unsuccessful. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed

4223-888: The Alaska Geographic Board's designation. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued the order changing the name to Denali on August 28, 2015, effective immediately. Jewell said the change had been "a long time coming". The renaming of the mountain received praise from Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who had previously introduced legislation to accomplish the name change, but it drew criticism from several politicians from President McKinley's home state of Ohio, such as Governor John Kasich , U.S. Senator Rob Portman , U.S. House Speaker John Boehner , and Representative Bob Gibbs , who described Obama's action as "constitutional overreach" because he said an act of Congress

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4326-656: The Aleutian Fault, is found in the nearby Aleutian Trench in the Gulf of Alaska, where a corner of the Pacific Plate is forced underneath Alaska at a 45-degree angle. Thus, most of the uplift force occurs along a line from Kodiak Island and up the Kenai Mountains to the Chugach mountains. The inlet lies in a region where the crust is wrinkled under this force and the tectonic forces push the ground downward. In 1964,

4429-578: The Brooklyn Bridge to Grant's Tomb [a distance of eight miles] in ten minutes." In May 1907, Harper's Magazine published Cook's account of the climb along with a photograph of what appeared to be Barrill standing on the summit. By 1909, Barrill had recanted at least part of his story about the climb, and others publicly questioned the account; however, Cook continued to assert his claim The controversy continued for decades. In 1956, mountaineers Bradford Washburn and Walter Gonnason tried to settle

4532-414: The Cook Inlet beluga whale population as depleted and began development of a conservation plan. On October 22, 2008 the Cook Inlet beluga whale was put onto the endangered species list. Cook Inlet activities include commercial fishing, oil and gas development, release of treated sewage , noise from aircraft and ships, shipping traffic, and tourism. However, it is not known what impact these activities had on

4635-600: The Cook Inlet watershed. Cook inlet, along with the Kenai Peninsula, the Kenai Mountains, the Chugach Mountains, and Kodiak Island , formed approximately 65 million years ago, just after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Like most of Alaska's mountains, they consist mainly of sedimentary rock and metamorphic rock that were deposited on the ocean floor during the Cretaceous period . This area, where

4738-529: The Grand Basin between the north and south peaks. On June 7, the team made the summit attempt. Temperatures were below −20 °F (−29 °C) at times. Every man, and particularly Stuck, suffered from altitude sickness. By midday, Harper became the first climber to reach the summit, followed seconds later by Tatum and Karstens. Stuck arrived last, falling unconscious on the summit. Using the mountain's contemporary name, Tatum later commented, "The view from

4841-564: The Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alaska Range . The Koyukon Athabaskans who inhabit the area around the mountain have for centuries referred to the peak as Dinale or Denali . The name is based on a Koyukon word for 'high' or 'tall'. During the Russian ownership of Alaska , the common name for the mountain was Bolshaya Gora ( Russian : Большая Гора ; bolshaya 'big'; gora 'mountain'), which

4944-528: The Kenai rely on income generated from fisheries in the Cook Inlet. The west side of the Inlet is not connected to any major road systems and is typically accessed by boat or plane, including the village of Tyonek, Alaska , some oil camps, and many seasonal fishing camps. The Cook Inlet Basin contains large oil and gas deposits including several offshore fields. As of 2005 there were 16 platforms in Cook Inlet,

5047-525: The Liek-Lindley expedition recovered a self-recording minimum thermometer left near Browne's Tower, at about 15,000 feet (4,600 m), on Denali by the Stuck-Karstens party in 1913. The spirit thermometer was calibrated down to −95 °F (−71 °C), and the lowest recorded temperature was below that point. Harry J. Liek took the thermometer back to Washington, D.C. where it was tested by

5150-480: The Parker-Browne expedition as a gentle slope ascended in no more than three days as a dangerous, ice-strewn morass on a knife-edged ridge (later named Karstens ridge). It would take the team three weeks to cover the same ground, as Karstens and Harper laboriously cut steps into the ice. On May 30, the team, with the help of some good weather, ascended to a new high camp, situated at 17,500 feet (5,334 m) in

5253-488: The Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet (61 m) of elevation short of the true summit when they turned back. Stuck and Karstens' team achieved the uncontroversial first ascent of Denali's south peak; however, the news was met with muted interest by the wider climbing community. Appalachia Journal , then the official journal of the American Alpine Club , published a small notice of the accomplishment

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5356-594: The Seward Highway. Because it lies along a subduction zone , the Cook Inlet region contains active volcanoes, including Augustine Volcano and Mount Redoubt , and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire . Hot magma and steam from the subducting ocean floor build up within these volcanoes, which tend to erupt in fairly regular cycles with very explosive force, often spewing volcanic ash tens of thousands of feet (several kilometers) high. Volcanic eruptions in

5459-467: The South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19,470 ft (5,934 m) and a prominence of approximately 1,270 ft (387 m). The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., fourteener ) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif . Five large glaciers flow off the slopes of

5562-513: The base of Denali. Stuck was an English-born Episcopal priest who came to Alaska by chance. He became acclimated to the often harsh Alaskan environment because of his many travels between far-flung outposts within his district, climbing mountains as a hobby. At 21 years old, Harper was already known as a skilled and strong outdoorsman, the Alaska-born son of a Koyukon-Athabascan mother and Irish gold prospector father. Tatum, also 21 years old,

5665-506: The beluga whale population. The Coastal Marine Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences working with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), began a three-year project in 2003 focusing on the water circulation in Cook Inlet. Cook Inletkeeper , a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance , began in 1994 when a group of Alaskans became concerned about

5768-421: The climbing public and the science community. Since its establishment, annual upgrades to the equipment have been performed with instrumentation custom built for the extreme weather and altitude conditions. This weather station is the third-highest weather station in the world. The weather station recorded a temperature of −75.5 °F (−59.7 °C) on December 1, 2003. On the previous day of November 30, 2003,

5871-621: The coast and began to disperse. In September 1906, Cook and a single party-member, horseman Robert Barrill, journeyed towards the summit again, in what Cook later described as "a last desperate attempt" in a telegram to his financial backers. Cook and Barrill spent 12 days in total on the attempt, and claimed to have reached the summit via the Ruth Glacier . Upon hearing Cook's claims, Parker and Browne were immediately suspicious. Browne later wrote that he knew Cook's claims were lies, just as "any New Yorker would know that no man could walk from

5974-518: The descent, an accessible pass northeast of the Muldrow Glacier following the headwaters of the Toklat and Chulitna rivers. In 1906, Cook initiated another expedition to Denali with co-leader Herschel Parker , a Columbia University professor of electrical engineering with extensive mountaineering experience. Belmore Browne, an experienced climber and five other men comprised the rest of

6077-534: The docks to the coal fields along Kachemak Bay. The resulting business led to the development of what eventually became Homer, Alaska. In the 1960s, several hippies , known as "spit rats", traveled from all around to camp on the Homer Spit, many of them becoming successful commercial fishermen over time. The 1964 Alaska earthquake shrank it to 508 acres (2.06 km), and killed most of the vegetation, making it today mostly gravel and sand. This artificial lagoon

6180-476: The fault bend essentially push the crust up in a vertical fashion. The longer the crust stays within the restraining bend, the higher the topography will be. Several active normal faults north of the restraining bend have recently been mapped with slip rates of approximately 2–6 mm/year. These normal faults help to accommodate the unusual curvature of the restraining bend. Denali has a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level , making it

6283-411: The final few hundred feet to reach the north peak of Denali, at 19,470 feet (5,934 m) high, the shorter of the two peaks. The pair erected the pole near the top, with the hope that it would be visible from lower reaches to prove they had made it. After the expedition, Tom Lloyd returned to Fairbanks, while the three others remained in Kantishna to mine. In Lloyd's recounting, all four men made it to

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6386-478: The further north they lie. Thus, the Cook Inlet and its surrounding land masses are rather young compared to those of the Alaska Range , which formed around 126 million years ago, or the Brooks Range which formed around 256 million years ago. The valley left by this continental compaction remains open to the Gulf of Alaska to the south, forming the inlet as it exists today. The surrounding mountains were host

6489-416: The group. Cook and Parker's group spent most of the summer season exploring the southern and southeastern approaches to the mountain, eventually reaching a high point on Tokositna glacier , 25 miles (40 km) from the summit. During their explorations the party mapped out many of the tributaries and glaciers of the Susitna river along the mountain's south flank. As the summer ended, the team retreated to

6592-555: The head of Cook Inlet, Cook was of the opinion that both Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. Under orders by the British Crown to ignore any such rivers and inlets, he had initially planned to pass it by, but at the insistence of John Gore and many others of his crew, he reluctantly agreed to explore the area. Cook anchored at Ship Creek and encountered

6695-478: The highest peak in North America and the northernmost mountain above 19,685 feet (6,000 m) elevation in the world. Measured from base to peak at some 18,000 ft (5,500 m), it is among the largest mountains situated entirely above sea level. Denali rises from a sloping plain with elevations from 1,000 to 3,000 ft (300 to 910 m), for a base-to-peak height of 17,000 to 19,000 ft (5,000 to 6,000 m). By comparison, Mount Everest rises from

6798-585: The idea and managed the project. Because the spit sits only about 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea level , it is susceptible to threats such as storm surge , tsunamis including ones that could be caused by eruptions of several nearby volcanoes, and climate change, as well as erosion ; the ocean side is exposed to heavy waves. 59°37′12″N 151°27′17″W  /  59.62000°N 151.45472°W  / 59.62000; -151.45472 Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( Tanaina : Tikahtnu ;  Sugpiaq :  Cungaaciq ) stretches 180 miles (290 km) from

6901-534: The importance of the mountain and its name, Will Mayo, former president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference , an organization that represents 42 Athabaskan tribes in the Alaskan interior, said "It's not one homogeneous belief structure around the mountain, but we all agree that we're all deeply gratified by the acknowledgment of the importance of Denali to Alaska's people." The following table lists

7004-432: The inlet and its orientation with respect to the lunar orbit causes the tide to come in and go out very rapidly. As the inlet narrows, the speed of the water increases, creating very powerful currents with speeds of up to 6 knots (7 miles per hour). While lined with large areas of silt and mudflats , the central and upper inlet is filled with narrow troughs that may be 150 to 300 feet (50 to 100 meters) deep. These, along with

7107-400: The interior of the state, arrived sometime between 500 and 1600 AD. In the 18th century, Russian fur hunters ( promyshlenniki ) were among the first European visitors. The Lebedev Lastochkin Company leader Stepan Zaikov established a post at the mouth of the Kenai River, Fort Nikolaevskaia , in 1786. These fur trappers used Siberian Native and Alaska Native people, particularly Aleuts from

7210-399: The large ice sheets and glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch (the Ice Ages, around 2 million to 11,000 years ago) which scoured the land and formed vast plains and moraines surrounding much of the upper inlet from glacial till that was deposited. Cook Inlet exists in a subsidence zone which contains many faults , and is frequently prone to earthquake activity. The primary fault,

7313-433: The local Natives for the first time when two men approached in kayaks, invited them to come ashore. Under Cook's orders, William Bligh , of HMS  Bounty fame, organized a party to travel up Knik Arm. Bligh served as Cook's Sailing Master on this, his 3rd and final voyage, the aim of which was discovery of the Northwest Passage . After meeting with some local Dena'ina, Bligh returned to report Knik Arm indeed led only to

7416-436: The main body of Cook Inlet, while not as extreme as the shallow and narrow Turnagain Arm, regularly reach 25 feet (7.6 m) or more and exhibit currents in excess of 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) at full tidal flow. The inlet and its arms have been proposed as a potentially attractive site for the generation of tidal power . Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm are known for large areas of silt . At low tide, much of this

7519-568: The map. Having been in a bad mood since first agreeing to explore the area, and as a result of this frustration, the second body of water was given the disingenuous name "Turn Again". Early maps label Turnagain Arm as the "Turnagain River". The SS Farallon was a wooden Alaskan Steamship Company liner that struck Black Reef in the Cook Inlet on January 5, 1910. All thirty-eight men on board survived, and were rescued twenty-nine days later. Few white people visited upper Cook Inlet until construction of

7622-546: The matter, with Gonnason attempting to follow Cook's purported route to the summit. Washburn noted inconsistencies between Cook's account of locations of glaciers and found a spot, at 5,400 feet (1,646 m) and 19 miles (31 km) southeast of the summit that appeared identical to the supposed summit image. Gonnason was not able to complete the climb, but because he was turned back by poor weather, felt that this did not definitely disprove Cook's story. In 1998, historian Robert Bryce discovered an original and un-cropped version of

7725-602: The mountain to be over 20,000 feet (6,100 m). These estimates were confirmed in 1898 by the surveyor Robert Muldrow , who measured its elevation as 20,300 feet (6,200 m). On November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released a twenty-five cent piece depicting Denali National Park. It is the fifteenth of the America the Beautiful Quarters series. The reverse features a Dall sheep with

7828-433: The mountain was stripped away by erosion . The forces that lifted Denali also caused many deep earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands . The Pacific Plate is seismically active beneath Denali, a tectonic region that is known as the "McKinley cluster". The high topography of Denali is related to the complex structural relationships created by the right-lateral Denali Fault and Denali Fault Bend. The Denali Fault

7931-458: The mountain, the mountaineers set up base camp on the lower portion of Peters Glacier . Aiming for the northwest buttress of Denali's north peak, they attempted to ascend directly; however, crevasses , ice fall and the lack of a clear passage caused them to turn and attempt to follow a spur via Jeffery Glacier where they believed they could see a way to the summit. After a dangerous ascent, at around 10,000 feet (3,048 m), Wickersham found that

8034-606: The mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier . The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain. With a length of 44 mi (71 km),

8137-496: The name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson declared the north and south peaks of the mountain the "Churchill Peaks", in honor of British statesman Winston Churchill . The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which was how it is called locally. However,

8240-430: The northwest buttress of the north peak, the party found they had reached a dead end and could make no further progress. On the descent, the group completely circumnavigated the mountain, the first climbing party to do so. Although Cook's 1903 expedition did not reach the summit, he received acclaim for the accomplishment, a 1,000 miles (1,609 km) trek in which he not only circled the entire mountain but also found, on

8343-504: The oldest of which is the XTO A platform first installed by Shell in 1964, and newest of which is the Osprey platform installed by Forest Oil in 2000. Most of the platforms are operated by Union Oil, which was acquired by Chevron in 2005. There are also numerous oil and gas pipelines running around and under the Cook Inlet. The main destinations of the gas pipelines are to Kenai where the gas

8446-532: The others, stayed behind. According to their account, the remaining three men pioneered a route following Karstens Ridge around the Harper Icefall, then reached the upper basin before ascending to Pioneer Ridge. The three men carried a 14-foot-long (4.3 m) spruce pole. Around 19,000 feet (5,791 m), Charles McGonagall, older and having exhausted himself carrying the spruce pole, remained behind. On April 3, 1910, Billy Taylor and Peter Anderson scrambled

8549-715: The party decided to delay one day so "that we might actually set foot on the slopes of the mountain". Setting off alone, with good weather, on August 4, Brooks aimed to reach a 10,000 feet (3,048 m) shoulder. At 7,500 feet (2,286 m), Brooks found his way blocked by sheer ice and, after leaving a small cairn as a marker, descended. After the party's return, Brooks co-authored a "Plan For Climbing Mt McKinley", published in National Geographic magazine in January 1903, with fellow party-member and topographer D. L. Raeburn, in which they suggested that future attempts at

8652-511: The peak of Denali in the background. During the summer of 1902 scientist Alfred Brooks explored the flanks of the mountain as a part of an exploratory surveying party conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey . The party landed at Cook Inlet in late May, then traveled east, paralleling the Alaska Range , before reaching the slopes of Denali in early August. Camped on the flank of the mountain on August 3, Brooks noted later that while "the ascent of Mount McKinley had never been part of our plans",

8755-563: The rapid ecological changes in the inlet. The group formally incorporated the following year using settlement proceeds from a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Cook Inlet oil and gas producers. Their stated mission is to "protect Alaska's Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains," with a focus on clean water, healthy habitat, local economies, and energy. They are based in Homer . Denali Denali ( / d ə ˈ n ɑː l i / ; also known as Mount McKinley , its former official name)

8858-460: The region have been associated with earthquakes and tsunamis , and debris avalanches have resulted in tsunamis also. There was an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.1 on December 31, 1901 generated by an eruption that caused several tsunamis. In 2009 a lahar from Mt. Redoubt threatened the Drift River oil terminal . Cook Inlet has the fourth largest tidal range in the world. The shape of

8961-436: The route did not connect as it had appeared from below, instead discovering "a tremendous precipice beyond which we cannot go. Our only line of further ascent would be to climb the vertical wall of the mountain at our left, and that is impossible." This wall, now known as the Wickersham Wall, juts 15,000 feet (4,572 m) upwards from the glacier to the north peak of Denali. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it

9064-555: The single later climbing group, who were friendly with some of the Sourdough expedition men, no other group would ever see it. Jon Waterman, author of the book Chasing Denali , which explored the controversy, outlined several reasons to doubt the claim: There was never any photographic evidence. The four men climbed during the winter season, known for much more difficult conditions, along a route that has never been fully replicated. They were inexperienced climbers, ascending without any of

9167-617: The south of the Alaska Range in the Dena'ina and Ahtna languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as "big mountain". To the north of the Alaska Range in the Lower Tanana , Koyukon , Upper Kuskokwim , Holikachuk , and Deg Xinag languages the mountain is known by names that are translated as "the high one", "the tall one" (Koyukon, Lower and Middle Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, Deg Xinag, and Holikachuk). Asked about

9270-413: The summit should approach from the north, not the south. The report received substantial attention, and within a year, two climbing parties declared their intent to summit. During the early summer of 1903, Judge James Wickersham , then of Eagle, Alaska , made the first recorded attempt to climb Denali, along with a party of four others. The group attempted to get as close to the mountain as possible via

9373-506: The temperatures in the Cook Inlet region fairly moderate compared to the extremes found in other parts of the state. The inlet was first explored and settled by Alutiiq people, tribes of coastal-dwelling Pacific Eskimos , beginning around 6000 years ago. The Chugach arrived around the first century and were the last of the Alutiiq people to settle in the area, but abandoned it after tribes of Dena'ina people , an Athabaskan people from

9476-602: The tide comes in all at once. Large bores are less frequent, and are typically formed during a new or full moon, especially when the moon is at perigee . Unlike areas around the Bering Sea where weather is largely affected by sea ice, the waters of the inlet are warmed by the Alaska Current in the Gulf of Alaska, part of the North-Pacific Subpolar Gyre , which affects the climate and keeps

9579-413: The tides, provide a challenge to ships navigating through the waters. The strong tides create powerful rip tides and bore tides which are sometimes among the largest in the world. Tidal bores occur within the inlet, and especially Turnagain Arm, almost daily, but are usually too small to notice. Large bores tend to occur after extreme tidal lows, appearing as a wall of water sometimes over 10 feet high as

9682-470: The top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!" During the climb, Stuck spotted, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and it is widely believed presently that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However, the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that

9785-401: The top of not only the north peak, but the higher south peak as well. When the remaining three men returned to town with conflicting accounts, the entire expedition's legitimacy was questioned. Several years later, another climbing group would claim to have seen the spruce pole in the distance, supporting their north peak claim. However, some continue to doubt they reached the summit. Outside of

9888-416: The usual safety gear or any care for altitude sickness. They claimed to have ascended from 11,000 feet (3,353 m) to the top in less than 18 hours, unheard of at a time when siege-style alpinism was the norm. Yet Waterman says "these guys were men of the trail. They didn't care what anybody thought. They were just tough SOBs." He noted that the men were largely unlettered and that some of the ensuing doubt

9991-500: The various rivers and streams. The narrow channel of the inlet funnels the tides creating very fast-moving currents, rip tides , and occasional bore tides . Cook Inlet watershed is the most populated watershed in Alaska. The watershed covers about 100,000 km (39,000 sq mi) of southern Alaska, east of the Aleutian Range , south and east of the Alaska Range , receiving water from its tributaries , which include

10094-424: The watershed there are several national parks and the active volcano Mount Redoubt , along with three other historically active volcanoes . Cook Inlet provides navigable access to the port of Anchorage at the northern end, and to the smaller Homer port further south. Before the growth of Anchorage, Knik was the destination for most marine traffic in upper Cook Inlet. Approximately 400,000 people live within

10197-491: Was a theology student working at a Tanana mission, and the least experienced of the team. His primary responsibility on the trip was as a cook. The team approached the peak from the north via the Muldrow glacier and McGonagall pass. While ferrying loads up to a camp at around 10,800 feet (3,292 m), they suffered a setback when a stray match accidentally set fire to some supplies, including several tents. The prior year's earthquake had left what had previously been described by

10300-744: Was later relocated inland and Portage was abandoned. About 20 miles (32 km) of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of Turnagain Arm; the highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt in 1964–66. Most of Alaska's population is in the Cook Inlet area, with highest concentration in Anchorage . Along the East side of the Cook Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula is host to many smaller fishing communities, such as Kenai , Soldotna , Ninilchick, Anchor Point and Homer . Many residents of

10403-402: Was not successfully climbed until 1963. Later in the summer of 1903, Dr. Frederick Cook directed a team of five men on another attempt at the summit. Cook was already an experienced explorer and had been a party-member on successful arctic expeditions commanded both by Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen . Yet he struggled to obtain funding for his own expedition, eventually organizing it "on

10506-500: Was related to their lack of sophistication in dealing with the press and the contemporary climbing establishment. In 1912, the Parker -Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, turning back within just a few hundred yards/meters of it due to harsh weather. On July 7, the day after their descent, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake shattered the glacier they had ascended. The first ascent of the main summit of Denali came on June 7, 1913, by

10609-704: Was required to rename the mountain. The Alaska Dispatch News reported that the Secretary of the Interior has authority under federal law to change geographic names when the Board of Geographic Names does not act on a naming request within a "reasonable" period of time. Jewell told the Alaska Dispatch News that "I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time." Indigenous names for Denali can be found in seven different Alaskan languages. The names fall into two categories. To

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