Tallest Vs Highest

 If a midget is standing on a building, does that make him taller than a basket ball player standing on the ground?

Driving south, we spotted several mountains, which all looked pretty big but knowing what I do about big mountains, they were nowhere near big enough.  Then Mt McKinley actually came into view. Here was me thinking that from where we were, we might just catch a glimpse of a distant peak behind a host of other high peaks.

We decided that we should head up for a hike that Shannon found in the Milepost book. It was up into the alpine area on some hills across from McKinley.

 

 As we got higher, the view started to get better.

 It was a bit of a shock to come across a small lake, only to work out that it was actually a dam. A dam built by a beaver that we suspect heard us coming and hid in his house. Looked just like every beaver house and dam we have seen in the movies.

 At the top of our walk, we could see a great view of the "Tallest" mountain in the world.
At about 8848 meters, the peak of Mt Everest is the highest point on earth. At just over 6000 meters, Mt McKinley is actually the tallest mountain on earth from its base to its summit. Everest is about 13000 feet from base camp where as McKinley is around 17000 feet.
Luckily for Mt Everest, most of a big mountain's notoriety relies on its altitude, not its height from the ground.

After a short rest, Olivia was really keen to go higher, up to the snow. However, her legs got the better of her and we headed back down. My shoulders got a bit of a work out.

As much as this looks like Olivia is interested in me pointing out a rare species of bird up high in a tree, she is actually looking at the large piece of ice that I am launching into the air.

 By the end, we had gone up and down 245 vertical meters. Not a bad effort for the team.