Cemetery

The most solemn way to appreciate the effect of the mountain on Talkeetna is to visit the Cemetery, a restful spot set among tall trees on 2nd St, just off Talkeetna Spur Rd near the airport. Don Sheldon's grave is the most prominent, with the epitaph 'He wagered with the wind and won'. The Mt McKinley Climber's Memorial includes a stone for Ray Genet, despite the fact that his body was never removed from the slopes of Mt Everest.

The most touching sight, however, is a memorial with the names and ages of all the climbers who've died on Mt McKinley and neighboring peaks. Particularly grim was the annus horribilis of 1991, when 11 lives were lost.