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Published: August 1st 2014
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My honey left, my roomy arrived. The rain stops, the sun shines. The family gathers and we're off. Tomorrow we board the train for Talkneeta and then on to Denali but tonight we need to eat. Our first choice was jammed and our second too (there was a 5K race that ended with a pub crawl) but we were able to snare a table and enjoy our first meal together. It's great to see Bill & Ann again and to meet David and Kenton. Let the adventure begin!
We arise early meet our guide Carlene and our driver Phil, drive to the depot and board the Wilderness Express. We occupy the last two cars of the train, both domed cars. Phil will meet us in Talkeetna with the bus. The rest of us settle in as the train pulls out of the station. It only been a couple of days since I was on the train but things are looking very different. The penny finally drops and I realize that we have taken a different route and far as Wasilla. I was wondering if I had lost my mind. Instead of an eagle we saw an osprey. We
saw more of the towns of Wasilla and Willow, including but not limited to gas stations and Subway and McDonalds. Thank goodness we were able to have breakfast on the train. The food was good and was NOT fast food.
As we headed north the skies lightened and the sun was shining by the time we arrived at Talkeetna. It was goodby train, hello motor coach. Before we got on, we walked down to the river and had a brilliant view of Denali, The Big One. And, things just got better. We boarded the bus and completed the drive to Denali. Our lodge is on the river so we went out to stretch our legs. We walk along the trail above the rushing river. It was good to be moving. David and Kenton are going rafting and Ann and Bill our doing a Puppy Visit but before they go we enjoy a brew on the deck overlooking the water. Later ML and I enjoy Halibut and King Crab. Guess who had what.
We up early and head into Denali National Park. Our guide is a former high school biology teacher and is now with
National Geographic who runs these tours. His focus is the science and the ecology of the park and though we saw only ptarmagin and caribou antlers sticking out of the brush is was a great morning. We were able to see Denali's north face too and took a nice nature walk to Spencer River. We each had a boxed lunch and it wasn't bad. Our last stop in the park was the Murie Visitors Center. They had a very good movie about the park throughout the year and interesting exhibits of the birds and animals we didn't encounter. From there we stopped at the Alaska Veterans Memorial locate halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks. It was very well done and understated but moving all the same. During the ride back to Talkneeta Charlene show is some videos including one originally filmed in the 1980's. It was funny listening to the horrified narrator saying gas was $1.31 A GALLON!!!!!.
The sky seemed to be clearing and we may have another chance to see Denali and the Alaska Range.
On average only 30% of the people who visit actually see the mountain. This year because of rainy
conditions the percentage dropped to 10%. We were of the 10%. Lucky us.
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