Mountain Mojo

The “Mountain Mojo” Experience

Denali, the tallest mountain on the entire North American continent at 4 miles high, basks in morning sunlight from Byers Lake, Alaska on October 1, 2017 at 9:45 am. I’ve noticed for many years that by just being in the presence of this mountain I absorb an energy of some sort that I’m calling “Mountain Mojo.”

Mountain Tidbits

• A 2015 US Geological Survey measured the height of Denali at 20,310 feet (6,190 m). That’s 10 feet shorter than the 1950s calculation of 20,320’. Did it shrink? Geologists say no, they just have more accurate GPS technology these days and the mountain is actually still rising, slowly but surely.

How do you spell relief? D-E-N-A-L-I

• On a global scale, Denali’s elevation does not compete with a lot of mountains found in the Himalayas & Andes. But when it comes to RELIEF—the height above the ground level of the area—it is #1 in the world measuring 18,000 feet from the base of the mountain to the peak. That’s granite for ya, a very tough rock with a high quartz content.
• The world’s tallest mountain is Mt. Everest at 29,029 feet above sea level (8,848 m) but its actual base-to-summit relief is only 12,000 feet, quite a bit less than Denali.
• When a mountain’s relief includes what goes on below sea level then Mauna Kea on the island of Hawai’i holds the world record at 33,476 feet from ocean floor-to-summit.