On a clear day ...

You can’t see forever, but on a day like today, the mountains 90 miles south of my deck look like they are in the back yard. These are not little hills; they are part of the Alaska Range which includes Denali (sometimes known as Mt. McKinley), the tallest mountain in North America. When I drive home alongside the Tanana River, Denali rises over the intervening ridges like the master of mountains, clearly visible straight ahead, 160 miles to the southwest. From my house, and from the approach to it coming down from the ridge instead of along the river, it is the Alaska Range itself that dominates the view.

The views are much better in the winter, when the air is clear and cold. Temperature layers in the air, which diffract light toward warmer air, act as a lens to magnify the mountains and they really stand up to be counted. If is daylight here (Alaska time is GMT -9 hours), there is a view of the range from a local webcam [Link] and explanations of the magnifying effect [Link].