Denali!

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First I must catch you up on doings since Kenai Fjords.
Wednesday was supposed to be a day off but hiked my legs off inAnchorage which is a quarter-sized Adelaide, all very mod cons despite isolation, like ALice Springs has just one highway and rail line going through. Funny story in Federal building which houses what we would call National POarks and Wildlife- had to be security-checked just like at airport- smiling fellow asked for photo ID, couldn't find at first, said he'd trust me cos I was from Oz- THEN I found a scungy spare passport photo, his mate barely glanced at it, turned up his nose and looked away and first bloke said 'You look as though you are trying to set up a fake ID with that', great guffaws all round! but the centre was great and showed a super video of Denali.
All over Anchorage now there are fancy salmon models, one at train station made of railway plastic silver cutlery! I went to the Imaginarium, a kids' science centre like we USED to have in Adelaide, not so good quite but at least they have it and haven't cut funding........after doing the city thing , walked back to hotel along coastal trail, Canade gees on mudflats and signs about what to do if confronted by angry moose- they apparently come into gardens and chomp your vegies as cheeky as rabbits, right here in town!.Canoe trip planned for today cancelled because of bad weather at the site but here all is bright and beautiful, 25C, Ozzie skies.
Thursday was a ten mile hike to Rabbit Lake in Chugach mountains, just me and the guide so lots of chat about life here, plus she was a birdo and a biologist by trade, now woarking as an artist. She told me what to do if things went wrong, and how to use the BEAR SPRAY- just saw the headlines in Adelaide paper next day, 'Aussie tourist saves hike guide from bear' or 'Aussie tourist eaten by bear', whichever!
did the evening birdwatching trip too, to Goose Lake, Westchester lagoon, Potter's lagoon where we saw Arctic terns nesting, a muskrat, rednecked phalarope and grebe, oh heaps.
Fri was a polite tourist cruise from Whittier, on Prince William sound. Getting into whittier involves driving through a tunnel shared with the railway- 2 1/2 miles long, cars let through one at a time to keep air pollution down, big fans clearing the air. On the cruise we saw 26 glaciers (oh no not another castle......) but the sea otters took the cake, did a show for us, they are SO cute, ducking and diving and showing off. Another good basket lunch on board, and excellent commentary. Visited a kittiwake colony and were shown pelts of sea otter and harbor seals. Melting snow is producing wondrous waterfalls.

And sos to Denali! Eight hours by rail but not boring, we saw moose and Mt McKinley! 20,363 feet- having to get used to imperial system all over againMany who live here, never mind temporary tourists, have never seen it and is is magnifique, as photogenic as the Matterhorn. the weather has been so superb, saw Mt M three days out of four.
Here they play golf in the winter by drilling holes in the ice and using fluoro golf balls- also there is disc golf......
Along the line are isolated settlements, but at Talkeetna is a big campground full of RVs, used here in place of caravans or 'trailers'. Huge motorhomes, no doubt with heating and insuslation!
I met Alison from Calgary on the train and we spent a cuppla days together, on the Backcountry bus ride and jetboating. Prices were very reasonable, would have been much more in Oz touristy places. At Denali River Cabins the restaurant did box lunches for $8, dinner from $8-$28 a main meal plus soup or salad, $6 dessert, despsite our being captive with no facilities for self-catering in rooms. 7 miles out from the main tourist drag, 'The Gulch', all posh hotels, kitschy gifte shoppes and various restaurants BUT one gift shop shows a super video of the Northern Lights which with 24/7 daylight we were not about to see for real. About 12 tour companies run shuttles to everywhere and one unashamedly uses anybody's and they don't care. So after jetboating and rafting, I was dropped off at the NPWS visitor centre, then this video place, then 'home' to the river cabins.
the jetboa was fairly tame but the staff were interesting, real backwoodsmen. We had hot doughnuts and chocolate during a demo and talk on trapping by a man who lets his ten year old granddaughter check ten miles of traplines on her own! Rckons kids who respect guns, animals and the bush won't go home and get a gun to use on people. He might just visit us in Oz, wants to see the outback. I think our Kimberley region is the Alaska of Australia, if you get me. Next we went goldpanning and found some, brought mine home. they swear the silt they give us is not loaded!
The rafting was polite but I'd promised noit to do anything dangerous as I'm travelling alone. It was still fun.
On the bus trip 150km into the six million acres that is Denali wilderness, we saw moose aplenty, six bears, lots of snowshoe hares and Arctic ground squirrels (ALison said they wre chipmunks, very similar), Dall sheep, a pair of golden eagles.
We had snacks morning and afternoon and a superb lunch at the Backcountry Lodge followed by a choice of goldpanning, a history walk or a botany walk, which I did. Following a moose and calf along the road made us late for dinner but who cares! Polychrome pass is ust that, reds and yellows and black and white rocks, geologically fascinating, I bought a book. Well several books which KLM will complain about when they weigh my case. The road through the park is hairy, very twisty, hilly, dirt road with dropoffs you don't want to contemplate but not so bad as 'driving in Bolivia'.
I hadn't looked forward to another eight hours on the return train but.......I looked out for my assigned carriage B, lined up and a kind steward said 'Madam you are on the wrong train'. Colour drained from my face. Panic. What to say? HE knows the railway but I KNEW there was only one line, only one train, I'd been there since 15mins before.....I was actually at the wrong SECTION of train, there being THREE 'CAR B'S', two for tourist companies and the one I should be on! So he walked me back and thast train is 1/2km long, shoved me in the first carriage in correct section, and the conductor (who is The Boss responsible for everything, not as in ticket collector) said I could stay there- in car D, alone in dome car, full attention of lovely steward, young lass from Fairbanks who taught me lots about ALaska and the school system. she has my email too! Life here is so NORMAL despite winter, bears, darkness..........We saw McKinley again. This park is beyond belief, I feel privileged to be on the same planet and to have BEEN THERE!
This is necessarily brief as I'm abusing this free service, will do it properly from home and add pix. Time to pack 'n go- to airport for Vancouver and ROcky Mountains explorer. Pete Richardson is meeting me in Calgary and I'll do more of this when I get to Hungary. TTFN, Lady C

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