We stayed in Talkeetna for a couple of days to fly up to Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. The town of Talkeetna stretches four square blocks and is home to 800 residents. No need to get directions to a bar or to an ice cream store here because you’ll bump into everything just strolling along.

There seems to be only one activity that brings the town-folk together now, and that is the Wilderness Woman and Bachelor Auction and Ball in December.

Unfortunately, the Moose Dropping Festival that used to be held each July was cancelled when PETA heard about it. For years, a lottery was held to guess the number of moose droppings that would drop from a helicopter onto a target. This tradition was halted abruptly in 2009, never to be reinstated. PETA was under the misconception that the droppings would come directly from the actual animals instead of from the helicopter.

I think the helicopter that took us to mountains peaks and over miles of 1000 foot deep glaciers, which landed on top of Mt. McKinley, probably was different than the one used for the moose droppings.