The Real Denali

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Alaska 5-6



Boarded the Denali train for the eight hour ride to the park. The weather was cloudy and rainy but we were comfortable and warm in our domed car. The motion of the train soon puts us in a sleepy state and we doze, awaking when there is a wildlife sighting which is seldom. The scenery is amazing, towering mountains, tracks of tundra, thick woods and rushing rivers and streams enchant us. Train food is very good and there is a bar offering coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juices, sodas, beer, wine and mixed drinks. There is a bistro car for snacks and light meals and our private dining car is below our domed seats.



We arrive at the Denali Train Depot and are transferred to the Grande Denali smoothly. The reception there was less than seamless and while the room is comfortable with a great view it is nothing special. We have a drink at the bar and it is soon time to board the ride to "Cabin Night Dinner Theater". We are served an excellent meal of salmon (two thumbs up) ribs (good) potatoes, corn, beans, salad, biscuits and berry cobbler. The waiters are also the performers and are very talented as well as competent servers.. The theme is early Alaskan History set to music and I was impressed with the quality of the voices. The acting quality varied but all were professional. It was a very pleasant evening. We got back to the hotel about 10:00 and collapsed after setting a 4:00 am wake up.



Today we head to backcountry Denali, following the road to it's very end. The paved road ends too soon and our bus starts the long trek on gravel. Our first wildlife sighting is of a family of ptarmigans, Alaska's state bird. They are in their summer plumage of browns but will turn white for the winter. Next the guide pointed out Dall Sheep on the cliffs. Even with the binoculars we couldn't see them well enough to see the horns. Could have been goats, could have been sheep.



We make a couple of comfort stops and take a snack break. This will be a long day so hot chocolate and cookies are welcome. Describing the scenery would use up all the trite adjectives like awesome and stunning. Television and movies do not do it justice. Denali is shrouded in clouds but the sun is beginning to peek out now and then so we still have hope. The road snakes around the edge of the mountains as we continue to climb. We see a bear up on the mountain. It is so far away that it looks like a blonde spot, obviously a grizzly. We will reach elevations of 4,000". The ride through Panorama Canyon presents basalt and rhyolite tinted with metals like copper or iron and that gives the mountains their various colors. Here we see our first caribou, a group of about eight females and juveniles. They ignore the busses and continue to graze. We come upon two moose, one a large bull, off in the distance.



Braided rivers loaded with glacial silt wind their way down the valley. It has been a cool and wet summer hear and about a month ago the area where we are having lunch was badly flooded. We pass Wonder Lake, a ranger station and campground and the last stop on the park shuttle bus. Still we head on to the Backcountry Lodge. This is one of the very few commercial venues in the park and it is on private land. This section of the park was extended in the 1980's and some people retained their land or at least the mineral rights thereto. When the floods came last month, our driver was trapped because of land slides closing the road and had to wait for rescue. Such is life in Alaska.



The Lodge is comfortable if not luxurious, a beautiful setting beside a rushing creek. We enjoy a great buffet and have time to explore, pan for gold or just soak in the view. Joe and I find rockers on the deck and despite some pesky mosquitoes we are soon in a trance of rushing water and sunshine. Soon it is time to head back. An enterprising pilot trolls for folks who would rather fly out and lands four. One couple is spending the night and the rest of us head back on the bus. The trip back will have fewer potty stops but still our welcome snack break. The sun is out and that seems to bring out the animals. We are able to get a couple of good shots of the bull moose and the caribou but the best was a large male caribou who decided the bus didn't present any danger and wandered right across the road. That was our "up close and personal" encounter. Denali still payed the shy maiden shrouded by clouds but we can see the bas and based on that it is a huge mountain. The ride back was as beautiful and engaging and long as the ride out and we got back to the hotel 12 hours after we left. Ate at the bar, enjoyed my stinger, set the alarm for 4:30, and headed to bed. Our final Denali Adventure starts early the next day.

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