Mountain Watching EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

Tundra-quad: No container. Warthcache. Someone is welcome to take over this popular stop.

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Hidden : 9/19/2008
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Cache is located approximately the 12 mile point on the Denali Park Road. This cache was created to help folks learn something about the great outdoors we enjoy.

Denali National Park, established in 1917 for the wildlife, consists of approximately 6 million acres. At 20,320 feet, North America's highest peak (Mt McKinley) is located in the park. Unfortunately, clouds hide the summit 2 out of 3 days.

Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, is at the heart of Denali National Park and Preserve. Towering 18,000 feet above the neighboring 2,000 foot lowlands, the mountain, otherwise known as Denali, an Athabaskan Indian name meaning the "The High One", the mountain’s vertical relief is greater than that of Mount Everest. Mt. McKinley is undergoing continual tectonic uplift. The Pacific plate is diving beneath Alaska, or the North American Plate causing land surfaces in Alaska to be continually compressed and folded, which pushes up Mt. McKinley, as well as the rest of the mountains in the Alaska Range.

As Denali is pushed up, it remains above the others, which wear down faster through the eons of freezing, thawing, and glaciers grinding and scraping. At 56 million years old, Denali rock is also much younger than most of its sedimentary neighbors, which varies from 100 to 400 or more million years old. The sedimentary rock is a testament to the millions of years that central Alaska was an open seaway.

The mountain was named in 1896 by a prospector William Dickey for Presidential nominee William McKinley of Ohio.

Getting outdoors and looking over the landscape is a great re-enforcement to any classroom teaching students received. We are a caching family and highly encourage taking this opportunity to educate a youngster. Being an Earthcache there is NO LOG to sign. To get credit for this cache e-mail Tundra-Quad the answer to the following questions: 1. What is McKinley’s elevation? 2. Please post a photo of yourself with your GPS at the sign with the mountains in the background. Using the sign as a guide to identify the mountains visible. 3. How far away is the mountain from this location?
Source:Denali National Park
The Geological Society of America (GSA) EarthCache Project - Learn about the EarthCache Master Program: earn Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum status, with an EarthCache Master Pin awarded at each level!

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