For
many folks, a trip to Alaska isn’t complete without seeing Denali (formerly
Mount McKinley), and with good reason. Denali is North America’s tallest peak
(20,320 feet), and beautiful.
From
afar, Denali is massive. You can see that for yourself in the picture that we
posted in our previous “Denali National Park and Preserve” post. We weren’t far
from Fairbanks when we were given what we now know was the only opportunity to see
it let alone photograph it.
Sadly
the entire next day and evening was raining and very foggy. The McKinley Princess
Lodge's location provides for that up close and personal view of Denali. One would think it would be easy to see it whilst there, but actually seeing
the mountain can still be difficult; Denali is so massive it makes its own weather
apparently, and it’s completely shrouded by clouds roughly 1/3 of the time.
Clouds,
storms, fog, and sunny high-pressure systems all battle it out around Denali;
the peak can actually appear at any moment and be gone in the blink of an eye. You might see it from a river
rafting trip outside Talkeetna, driving the Parks Highway from Anchorage to
Fairbanks, as we were fortunate to do or from the Alaska Railroad tour.
Unfortunately it didn’t do that for us and therefore don’t have any
close up pictures to share with you.
Our travel companion Wendy, had the zoom lens on her camera the day we stopped on the highway. She has kindly allowed us to post a couple of her pictures. Bare in mind we were about 50 miles from Denali when these shots were taken so it will give you some idea of just how massive Denali truly is. The first photo is Denali or the high one, and the second photo is other mountains that form part of the Alaskan Range.
I will talk a little bit about the lodge itself and share a few pictures. The
lodge is located approximately one hour from the town of Talkeetna, which is
nestled at the base of Denali and is where we will be catching our train to Anchorage.You may be tucked away in the wilderness, but you won’t lack for anything that’s for sure.
Below is a sweet spot provided for guests to capture the best view of Denali when it does make an appearance. This was one of those fleeting moments that I previously mentioned when the skies tried to clear; in our case it wasn't enough for that photo op we were all waiting for.
The sign is strategically placed that if you stand facing it Denali is perfectly centred within the two posts along with a well positioned advertising opportunity!
Here is Wendy hamming it up for the camera outside our rooms.
Okay
enough silliness; let’s move on to our trip from Talkeetna to Anchorage via The
Alaskan Railroad…
I’d
like to point something out before we go any further. A little tidbit of
information that I personally think is pretty cool. As we stood watching our
train pull into the station I immediately looked at Rick and asked him if he
built this particular locomotive. He in turn said, “I sure did”!
I
can’t begin to describe how it felt to know my husband helped build the engine
that would ultimately transport us from Talkeetna to Anchorage Alaska. How cool
is that?
All aboard!!!
Traveling
on the Alaskan Railroad is a fantastic way to see Alaska. Beautiful domed cars
with lots of room to walk around, excellent food and drinks, wonderful friendly
service, and amazing views. The 2 hour trip was narrated from start to finish, and the
train would slow down for any scenic or wildlife photo ops, and with fall at
its peak the vistas were extra amazing.
If
you are lucky you will see Denali from many different viewpoints, but of course
today was another day where we couldn’t capture it.
Rick
had the opportunity to chat with one of the two engineers on board and he took
a moment to have his photo taken with him once we arrived in Anchorage.
The next morning we will be heading to Whittier to embark on the sea portion of our trip. We will also be stopping off at a wildlife refuge along the way, so I hope you continue to tag along with us. Thanks for stopping by.
Rick
and Sandra :)
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