Train into the Wilds

This was another early day! Had to be at the train station by 6am but the whole experience was totally worth it.  We rode in the double dome car with views limited only by the close vegetation along the track.  Service plus as we were fed food or drinks most of the way. Unfortunately, we will be riding in the "cattle car" going back


The trip was longer than we had expected and much of the time the landscape was mostly marshy land. Then all of a sudden we got to the area of rivers and lakes.  Actually passed Summit Lake at the Continental Divide, where water from one end of the lake flows south into the Pacific at the Oregon - California coast, and from the other end flows north into the Bering Sea.  We saw moose all along the way, some with newborns.  We were struck by the color of the moose here, a much lighter than we see in Colorado.  Searched all the mud flats and rivers for bears hunting salmon but saw none. Spring has just begun here so some trees were just budding out while most were in full bloom. The forests were abundant! It is, of course, much to early for wildflowers.

Panorama Mountain

The mountains were on all sides at all times. There is still much snow on most of these mountains and it wasn't until we got almost into Denali Park that the mountains were forested.  Of course, all eyes were peeled to see Mt Denali, but not today.  We did talk with a couple of retired park rangers now living in Granby, CO. He actually reached the summit as a climber some years ago and has come back many times but still is unsuccessful at seeing the summit from land.  We saw one mountain which is used as a training for climbers as conditions are so similar; this mountain is one-fourth as high as Mt Denali.

Here is a sign announcing the community of Chase, Alaska.  We saw others like this along the way also. There are no roads other than what you see. They are served 4 months in summer and one month in winter by the railroad. There is no phone, no electricity. One community had a population of two. It was established in 1964 when a couple moved there with their four children, all of whom have left -- the couple remain.



The scenery really did turn more dramatic once we got to Denali. And all of a sudden, there are lots of people on all sorts of adventures or excursions.  We are staying at McKinley Chalet Resort which is a large, busy and very beautiful resort adjacent to the park with walking trails, several restaurants, bars, entertainment and lots of shopping. We did something right in choosing our room/cabin which is Building Z (yes, there really are 25 other buildings -- plus a lodge). So we are at the end of the road overlooking trails and the Nenana River. We can hear the river with our windows open -- again the type of air conditioning most prevelent in this part of the country. 














We are sitting at the main lodge right now, one of the few places in the resort with wireless service. We have a super early morning again tomorrow as we pick up box lunches and the shuttle to the bus at something like 5:30am for our tour into the park. Then have some time tomorrow afternoon to explore the resort a bit more. Think it would be easy to stay here longer than two days. We are so lucking out on the weather -- a bit of rain on the trip today, but right now it is clear, breezy, almost warm and oh so beautiful!