20190816 Friday

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We departed Fairbanks to go to Denali. Took the hotel shuttle to the very nice depot. Checked in, including luggage, got boarding passes. Looked at the model train layout (five trains running). D bought a few little things.

We boarded and left on time. After watching the local landmarks go slowly past, we took cinnamon rolls, mimosa, bloody mary, etc. The train picked up speed. The crew gave announcements regarding the area. All was well.

At North Nenana, where the track makes several sharp turns, we came upon a rock slide. The train stopped quickly and sat for ten minutes while the dispatcher put a plan into action. We backed up a mile and waited. Something over an hour later, we could proceed.

We passed over the Tanana on the 1923 bridge, a single-span of 702 feet (second longest in the US). The Nenana joins Tanana there; the railroad follows the Nenana to Denali. It was very obvious a lot of water was headed downstream.

At Healy, ten miles short of Denali, the train stopped. An announcement was made that a mud slide had blocked the tracks and that this train could not get through. We waited and read books and chatted for something over an hour until buses were brought train-side. We all got into buses according to what our ticket showed.

D & I got into our bus and were handed our room key and information packet by the hotel representatives. Good work. The bus took us to the hotel. We walked to our room. Our luggage was delivered. They made the best of the situation.

It turns out the rock slide was completely new. Nobody had ever seen one there. But it has been very wet lately. The mud slide was the third this month and the second day in a row.

We warmed up in the room, then went to the lobby to check out various things. We placed an order for box breakfasts, since we'll be picked up at 0630 for our long tour into the park.

At 1700 the bar & grill opened. We were in the middle of the stampede. A group of ten took the whole bar and began reliving their day. We took a nice table overlooking the rain. Every time we thought the visibility was improving, it turned bad again.

I had halibut (excellent); D had brisket (very good). We bought a bottle of red to take to the tiny room. Now we're just going to settle, read, and relax.

We do feel sorry for the folks on the train that are going on to Anchorage, and the others affected by the slide.

20190817 Denali, second day

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We did the 13-hour Kantishna Roadhouse trip into Denali National Park. Ninety-two miles out, ninety-two miles back.

We were picked up at 0630 at the hotel in the bus guided by Craig, a fantastic guide and lecturer. We headed out the road in a misty morning. Weather forecast for better skies but no warmer.

Craig would stop for any call-out by anyone who thought they saw an animal. We weren't far into the park when he saw a large moose and stopped so we could get pictures. Not a whole lot farther, we saw our first (grizzly) brown bear (we saw no black bear).

Later we saw a mommy bear with one-year cub, a mommy bear with two two-year cubs, and more moose.

Yesterday, no one was allowed beyond this point due to mud slides. Actually, due to the fact that buses might get stranded on the other side of the mud slide thus requiring rescue or big efforts to clear the road.

We waited for word. Finally came the word that those resort buses going to resorts at the end of the road could go on, but no others, such as the park buses going to Eielson Visitor Center. That may have changed later, but we took off to do the remaining 39 miles.

About then, the skies really showed signs of clearing. Craig was positive we'd see Denali. We kept going and looking at more animals, while Craig gave running recitations on their characteristics and life styles. We even spotted some ptarmigan at roadside. At the Eielson Center the skies were nearly clear and Denali stood out brilliantly against a light blue sky. Gorgeous.

We saw more of all of the big four on the return trip. By the end we had seen fifteen bears, uncountable caribou, bunches of moose including one less than 25 yards away down in a creek bed, a lot of white dot Dall Sheep way up on the hillside, one coyote, one lynx, one ground squirrel, two clutches of ptarmigan and one hummingbird.

A couple of the sightings really made for high quality photos.

Craig dropped some people off at Denali Village, the rest at our hotel Denali Bluffs.

We checked at the desk for the departure process tomorrow, then went to dinner in the Mountaineer. Simpler dishes this time, still good, still friendly.

Then off to read and rest.

20190818 Talkeetna We camped by RV here in 2003 near the train station.

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Today was another odd day. We played mountain goat running up and down the hill at our hotel in Denali. We were told the train southbound from Fairbanks could not run due to the slides blocking the tracks between Healy and Denali. But also we were told the northbound train from Anchorage could not run due to a fire south of Talkeetna.

The hotel's shuttle took us to the Denali train depot. We checked in as though for a train, but were given passes to get on a bus to Talkeetna. Dozens of others went through the same thing but for Anchorage.

Eventually, and close to what would have been the train's departure time of 1230, the buses showed up. We entered a state of mass confusion but finally loaded and headed south on the Parks Highway. The driver tried to give a talk, but he was not as good as Craig was yesterday, so I shut him off and read a book on Kindle.

We hummed along, then the driver took pity. He pulled into the South Denali Viewpoint so we could take pictures and use the rest rooms. Headed south again to the Talkeetna turnoff and on to the train station. All the luggage and people were off-loaded to go onward in the shuttles provided by the hotels.

We arrived at Talkeetna Alaska Lodge (big, fancy) at 1630. We went through the process of checking in when the hotel had no internet - it's been out the last 12 hours. We threw our stuff in the room and went to the other lobby to catch the jitney to our jet-boat place. They (Mahay's) came along and took us to their office to be collected with others.

We seized the opportunity to go across the street for a beer. No power, all cash. Seems as though a tree fell on a power line and started a small fire. That one was extinguished soon, but a larger one (the one affecting the trains) was still going, with a goodly wind keeping it going.

Back to the office where a guy took us through Talkeetna to the riverbank and little JetBoat. A dozen or so of us boarded it. The 21-year-old captain with nine years experience and five years having a captain's license, charged away upstream on the Susitna River. He steered around the shallow spots and did very well. His lady assistant gave commentary, especially on the quarter-mile hike that showed us a trapper's cabin, furs, and other interesting things. Then Tofer (the captain, so help me) zipped us back to the landing. The shuttle took us to our hotel.

We put up our jackets and entered the bistro for dinner. The room had a great view of the Alaska Range, including Denali, so we took pictures as we drank and ate. The sun set behind the mountains, so that provided another view of the range, requiring more pictures.

Then we (very tired) went to the (very nice) room to rest and relax.

20190819 Monday Talkeetna

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We loafed a little but then put out the luggage for pickup and did breakfast while watching Denali. Eventually we let the hotel watch our bags, and got a K2 Aviation shuttle to their office. We were weighed and then waited. There's a smoky smell from the forest fire to our south, but it's not coming this way.

After a bit, Stan came out and herded us all together (all 10) and took us to the Turbo Otter. He gave the safety lecture outside, then asked if anyone wanted the co-pilot seat. I jumped just before another guy, so I got it.

We entered and put on seat belts and headsets. Stan started the turbo and taxied out to the single runway (01). He selected high pitch, advanced the throttle, and we were in the air at the halfway point of the runway. Turbo Otters are great short-field planes.

We climbed slowly while Stan pointed out geographic features as we rose toward this wall of mountains called the Alaska Range. We went next to a small mountain at 5500 feet, and kept climbing. At 9000 feet he started weaving back and forth so the passengers on the left and right sides could see the features like glaciers and melt ponds on the glaciers.

He kept climbing to 11,000 feet (no pressurization in this plane, remember) and got close to Mt Hunter. He showed us tremendous vertical granite outcroppings and glaciers merging into larger glaciers, one finally three miles across. It was beautiful.

Then he started gradually descending and showed us lovely green mountain valleys with streams. And eventually we came out to the flat ground again, and then landed.

We thanked him profusely while he walked us to the office. We got a ride back to the hotel. We had a drink or two and made ready to go to the depot.

20190819 Continued Talkeetna to Anchorage

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The shuttle took us to the depot, where confusion reined. No train. Must bus. We had had Wilderness Explorer luxury scheduled, now we get a bus.

The lady driver was a real character, had worked all over and had a story for every circumstance. But the going was quite slow at times due to traffic caused by the wild fire. Several times we slowed and stopped, then started again.

The pictures (if clear enough) show houses and businesses burned out. We saw flames at one point and smoke coming up from other hot spots.

But eventually we got past that and traveled swiftly. We actually arrived at the Anchorage depot on time.

We took a cab to the Captain Cook and met Glenn Jackson just inside the door. I received the Princess package and joined the others in the bar. We had a drink and talk, then walked to Simon & Seaforts for dinner. Great seafood as usual.

Then back to the hotel and the room and rest.