A hundred miles north of Anchorage, TALKEETNA has a palpable small-town Alaska feel: rumor has it that this eclectic hamlet was the model for Cicely in TV's Northern Exposure , but to its credit Talkeetna doesn't use this as tour-bus bait. The town is lent an international flavor by the world's mountaineers, who come here to scale the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley , which in Alaska is usually referred to by its original Athabascan name of Denali , "the Great One." Whatever you choose to call it, North America's highest mountain rises from 2000ft lowlands, making it the world's tallest from base to peak (Everest et al rise from high terrain).

Though central to Denali National Park the mountain is best seen from Talkeetna, where the overlook just south of town reveals the peak's transcendent white glow, in sharp contrast to the warm colors all around.

From mid-April to mid-July Denali climbers amass in Talkeetna to be flown to the mountain: only half of the 1200 attempting the climb each year succeed, due to extreme weather conditions. Air taxi companies also run flightseeing trips ranging from a spectacular one-hour ($115) flight to the full ninety-minute grand tour ($165) completely encircling the mountain. K2 Aviation (tel 907/733-2291 or 1-800/764-2291, ), the choice of most climbing expeditions, offers the widest range of options, including glacier landings (extra $40) in planes fitted with skis.

Talkeetna's famed Moose Dropping Festival falls on the second weekend of July; little brown balls can be purchased (with a sanitary coat of varnish) for use as earrings, necklaces and so on, throughout the town. In addition to these highly desirable lumps of Alaskana, the festival features dancing, drinking and a moose-dropping throwing competition and some more drinking.

Talkeetna

• Talkeetna
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