Destinations Editor Eric Moya is in Alaska for a tour of its national parks.
The skies were clear over Anchorage on Tuesday morning, which meant our trip to Denali National Park was a go. But the smell of smoke in the air was a reminder of the previous night's uncertainty, as the wildfire about 80 miles north of the city continued to build momentum.
With highs approaching the mid-80s the previous day, it was exceptionally warm, we were told, and the lack of rain didn't bode well for containment efforts.
Our flightseeing trip to the park offered little sign of the struggle below. But as we returned from the park around midafternoon, our pilot Bob Glen of Rust's Flying Service pointed out water drops and other containment efforts, as we listened in on emergency responders on the radio aboard our DeHavilland Beaver floatplane and dutifully followed the flight restrictions in place.