The Coral Princess Northbound Cruise and Land Tour Day 10

The Coral Princess Northbound Cruise and Land Tour

The Train from Talkeetna to Denali

The next morning we checked out of the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, boarded the bus to the Talkeetna train station and waited for the train to arrive. Then we waited a little more. As someone who took the train back and forth to college, I wasn't terribly surprised that the train was late, but the ride more than made up for it.

It was pretty much the same deal as the first train as we were assigned a table and had the option for gift shop purchases, lunch and an open air viewing platform. This time, however, lunch was nicer in a separate dining car and the viewing platform was much more accommodating and for the first half of the ride felt like my own private space as virtually no one walked out there until the sun started to shine.

The views on this part of the train trip were truly amazing as we snaked alongside rivers, traveled over the ever impressive and dizzying Hurricane Gulch Bridge, eventually making out way into Denali State Park as the mountains began to rise. And, just as the train entered the border between Denali State Park into Denali National Park and Preserve, we had the great fortune of being greeted by a rainbow. It was truly a beautiful ride.

If you're a fan of the reality tv show, Alaska Railroad, Sherman City Hall may look familiar to you.

Fiddlehead ferns, a plant that you'll hear a lot about in Alaska.

We passed by another Princess train of passengers who had stopped briefly on the tracks.

The entrance to the interior of the train car from the outdoor viewing platform, this is also where the restrooms are located.

The stairs that take you up to the assigned seating area of the dome car, you can see the entrance to the outdoor viewing platform in the back.

The menu for the dining car

Right before we passed over Hurricane Gulch the outdoor viewing platform suddenly became very crowded, so if you do intend to see the gulch on the platform, snag a spot early.

Just like the train ride from Whittier to Talkeetna, shortly before arriving your train car guide will tell you everything you need to know about tours, the lodge, your room key and information packet. After getting off the train you go to your assigned bus (as labeled in the information packet) and take what will probably be the shortest bus ride of your entire trip, as it takes roughly 5-10 minutes to go from the Denali train station to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge.

I ended up regretting this later, but in the several months before our trip I decided to schedule an excursion for the same day as our arrival and the lateness of the train didn't help things. When we were dropped off I had just enough time to walk up to the building our room was in, drop off the things I didn't need and walk back down to the main lodge to catch the bus for my next excursion.

One thing to note though, when you're not in a rush a shuttle does drive around the property, however, there is a fee for using it. I believe it's a dollar but as I didn't use it I'm not certain.

The excursion that I thought would be fun and exciting, as I have never tried it before, was ATV'ing. I quickly learned that I did not in fact like the activity, which didn't help as I was the only person in the group who had never driven an ATV before and our guide and more than half of the group wanted the rougher, more challenging and, apparently, more exciting trails.

I tried to enjoy the scenery around me but all I kept thinking about were the several warnings of possible death and injury that was talked about in the informational video we watched before mounting our bone shaking steeds. It also didn't help that I kept replaying in my head that episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations where he tumbles down a sand dune while riding his ATV. Eventually the guide made a few stops along the way where my frazzled nerves calmed down a bit and I could finally take in the nature that surrounded me and happily snap away.

In the end though, if you've never driven an ATV before, I wouldn't recommend doing so in a rugged terrain like the one we went through at the Black Diamond Resort.

The ATV I drove, aka the bone shaker.

Once the ride was thankfully over and done with, I boarded the bus back to the lodge and managed to spot some Dall Sheep on a rocky piece of mountain off the road. Once I got off the bus, I realized just how hungry I was and, trying to give my wallet a break, I walked across the road for a Subway dinner. 

And here's a quick video highlight of my day on the train from Talkeetna to Denali National Park.

Unfortunately I can't figure out to make this bigger and to display it in the full 1080p on command, so make sure to enlarge and select 1080p!

Next up, Denali National Park and a tour of the town of Denali and the lodge.

If you would like to see more photos from my time in and to Denali, click here.

The Coral Princess Northbound Cruise and Land Tour Day 8

The Coral Princess Northbound Cruise and Land Tour

The Train from Whittier to Talkeetna

The next and last day on the Coral Princess was painfully early as we had to be ready to board our train to Talkeetna before the sun even rose. After a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court, I went down to the main dining room to wait for our color (each boarding group is colored coded, my disembarkation/boarding color was yellow) to be called. Once our group was called, I walked down the gang plank and  through a series of tented covered walkways (because surprise, surprise it was raining), before reaching the waiting train, where we were greeted by a friendly conductor who helped my parents and I into the right train car. Once you board you sit at your assigned table, which is signified on your train ticket, and then either promptly take a nap or browse through the reading material that was put on the table for you. Included was a breakfast/lunch menu, a catalog for a gift shop on board (no surprise there), and a fun and easy crossword puzzle.

While my eyes wished for nothing but blackness, my brain yelled to stay awake stupid, and look at that amazing scenery passing you by; so I did. Each train car owned by Princess comes with a staff of two; one to take your food and drink orders if you so chose and another to give you information about arrival in Talkeetna and what exactly you're seeing our your window.

A pretty big fan of the show Mysteries at the Museum, I knew that we would be passing by where the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964, which was an earth shattering 9.4 on the Richter scale and brought in a devastating tsunami. And sure enough our train guide pointed out exactly where it happened and the present day evidence. While it may not look like much,it  is an interesting reminder about what happened there 50 years ago. 

These trees sticking up from marshy waters are actually petrified by the sea water brought in from the tsunami in 1964.

The viewing platform on this train was small, so just a friendly reminder, while you want to just stand there and take photos all day in the fresh Alaskan air, don't be a camper and let others enjoy the view from time to time.

It was pretty neat and rather odd to see planes just parked in peoples' yards, but when you live out in the bush, it can be the best way to get from point a to point b.

The dome train car windows were nicely clean, so if you don't want to venture out to the small viewing platform, fear not, you can shoot happily from your seat. About halfway through the trip, my stomach started to yell at me; "Eat some damn lunch!" it growled. I ended up acquiescing and split a sandwich with my mother.  

About 20 minutes before the train pulled into Talkeetna our train guide handed out packets to each table which contained room keys, maps to where your room was, a map of Talkeetna and a print out of excursions that you'll need to have with you to get on the bus to get to your excursion.

A moose spotted from the train. In fact, when we spotted the moose, the engineer slowed the train down for ample viewing time

You also have the option of taking the 40 minute drive directly to the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge or taking a 5 minute drive directly into the town of Talkeetna and catching a bus (still a 40 minute drive) later in the day to the lodge. If you chose the latter like we did, and you chose not to lug around the additional bag you brought on the train with you, don't worry, simply ask for an additional tag from your train car's guide, fill it out and that bag will go on ahead to the lodge and meet you in your room. 

I should also mention though, that if you chose to go to the lodge first to rest a bit, that you will have to pay a small fee for the bus back into Talkeetna, unless of course you are on an excursion, then the ride is free (sans tip of course). 

The tiny town of Talkeetna has to be one of, if not my favorite place to visit on the trip. The people are friendly, the food and beer wonderful, and did I mention that it's so small that there isn't even a traffic light? Well there isn't and of course that means that this is just a perfect little walking town, with interesting shops to stop in and beautiful views to take in. 

About a 15 minute walk from where the bus drops you off, you can reach a beach and feel the cool glacial waters that flow into the Susitna River. If that's not your jam and you're into history, fear not. For only a couple of bucks you can stop into the Talkeetna Historic Society Museum and see artifacts from when Talkeetna was an early settlement and all that comes with making a go of it in cold climates in a former US territory (Alaska didn't gain statehood until January 3rd, 1959). 

Interested in learning all about this big ole mountain folks around you call the "great one" or maybe you heard it being called Denali or perhaps you know it as Mount McKinley? Well, the tallest mountain in North America is named all those things, but more on that later. If you are interested, stop by the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station for the Denali National Park and Preserve where a complimentary film is shown several times a day on the Denali. You can also learn about the intrepid mountaineers who try to reach its summit and see some of the equipment used. And depending on what time of the year you go, you might even get to meet some of the daring hikers who have to register at the ranger station before starting their ascent.

Whatever you end up doing here, at the end of the day I can bet you'll enjoy. Just sit back relax and take it all in and enjoy your time in Talkeetna.

I managed to catch a few fish, but I had a sneaking suspicion that someone was hungrier than me. 

Fireweed

And of course, because I was at a beach, the obligatory feet in the sand shot, or in this case, feet in the glacial sand silt. The water was absolutely freezing though, but hey, I got to stick my toes in water that's run off from a glacier! Nerdy neatness.

Some of the exhibits in the Talkeetna Historical Society Musuem.

The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station

Dipping my feet into glacial waters and walking around in fresh air works up an appetite, so we ended up deciding to go for an early dinner and ice cold brew at the Denali Brewing Company. Depending on what guide or Princess staff member, it's either an okay place for food or a place to avoid. I thought it was absolutely delicious and had some amazing micro brewed beer (that, unfortunately, I cannot find anywhere near me on the east coast). The prices were also not out of this world, so yay for the budget traveler, I'd recommend it and at least try a Belgian Bastard while you're there.

Before you leave though, make sure to stop in at the Alaska Gold Mine Candy Company, not only for the amazingly delicious sweet treats, but also for cheap huge bottles of water that they overcharge you for at any of the lodges. 

After a long nap on the bus we finally made it to the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (say that 5 times fast), explored the area a little and then when to see our room and meet our, "meet me tonight" luggage. Well, my parents got to see their "meet me tonight" bags, however my suitcase was a little too eager to continue on its journey and was at the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge. Yep, no warm socks and sneakers (I had decided to wear sandals that day), no warm sweatshirts (it was getting cold) and, of course, no clean clothes for me the next day (thankfully I had my pj's packed from the early morning on the cruise). Princess stepped up to the plate though by apologizing and giving me a $50 certificate that I used to get a warm fleece and a couple of other things in the gift shop for the next day.

While at the gift shop, I went to the front desk to ask to be called if the northern lights or mountain can be seen at any time of day or night. It's a nice service that definitely came in handy the next day.

Our room was in another outbuilding, separate from the main lodge, but a very, very short walk to it.

In the evening you can roast marshmallow and make s'mores from this fire pit.

I think they enjoyed their treat.

And to give you an idea of food prices while on the lodge property, I've added a couple of menus that were on the door outside the Alaska Grill, which are full size so you click to enlarge to read the details. I never ate here though, so I can't really tell you if the food was out of this world or not.

Slightly miffed that I didn't have a fresh pair of clean clothes and warm  socks and sneakers to change into after a long day on the train and walking around, I called it quits early hoping for a view of "the great one" in the morning.

And here's a quick video highlight of my day on the train to Talkeetna in Alaska.

Unfortunately I can't figure out to make this bigger and to display it in the full 1080p on command, so make sure to enlarge and select 1080p!

Next up on the blog, Mt. McKinley, a full day complete day in Talkeetna, complete with an excursion.

If you would like to see more photos from the train ride, click here.

If you would like to see more of photos from Talkeetna and the journey there, then click here.