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 9

The Coral Princess Northbound Cruise and Land Tour

Meeting the Mayor of Talkeetna and Floating Down the Susitna

The next day of our land cruise started with an early morning phone call: the mountain was out! While it sounds a little weird to get a call notifying you a mountain is "out," you'd be right, but the mountain, aka Denali, aka the "great one," aka Mount McKinley, the tallest point in North America, is rarely visible as it's usually covered in clouds 75% of the time. The fact that it was visible more than made up for not having my suitcase when I needed it most.

 

After the excitement of getting to see Mount McKinley, grabbing breakfast with my folks and seeing them off for their excursion, I decided to take a walk on the foot path that circled the main lodge. The short walk provided a couple of nice vantage points of the Susitna River and had several informational signs to tell you about the plant life that surrounded you. On the walk back up to the lodge, I noticed that the luggage trucks were driving around delivering fresh suitcases, so I eagerly went back to the room to see if my suitcase was waiting for me. It wasn't. 

I went to grab a cup of coffee from the cafe when I notice that more of the clouds that were in front of Denali had lifted. So I took my cup of coffee, sat out on the deck, snapped a couple of photos and took it all in. In a matter of a year I've been fortunate enough to have seen and been to the lowest point on earth in Death Valley National Park in the beginning of the year, and now I was sitting in front of the highest point on North America; it was a little hard to believe.

Not wanting to be late for my own excursion, a river float trip down the Susitna River, I put on the warm fleece I purchased yesterday and went down to the lodge to catch the bus into town. After a full night's sleep I thought I could manage to stay awake for the 40 minute drive... I was wrong, I passed out shortly after the bus drove by Wall-Mike's and woke up when we pulled into the bus parking area.

More of the beautiful flower arrangements that are everywhere in Alaska.

I had about 30 minutes before my excursion started so I met up with my folks at the Denali Brewing Company for a Belgian Bastard and an afternoon snack before embarking on my float trip, which started at the Talkeetna River Guides yurt.

Once I arrived and checked in, I went to the back where I received a pair of boots to put on over my shoes and a heavy waterproof rain jacket. After that we were introduced to our guides and then split up into groups and subsequently into two different 15 passenger vans which towed our floats. It was about a 5 minutes drive down to the boat launch, where we were then given our life jackets and safety speech infused with humor before hopping in our float and going down the Talkeetna River. The float trip was one of the most relaxing excursions I've ever done. We saw American Bald Eagles, a few salmon and got to try watermelon berries and wild grown raspberries. Toward the end of the ride we were greeted by Steve, who sang and played a song on his banjo.

This boat is from another excursion offered by Princess and they came speeding in right after we landed ashore

We ended up "docking" at the very same beach that I dipped my toes in the day before and walked back to the yurt to drop off the boots and rain jacket.

I didn't have too long to wait before the last bus from town left, so I went to the Wildflower Cafe and had a Denali Brewing Company's Single Engine Red beer and delicious crab cake for dinner, before strolling back to the bus stop.

And huzzah, when I returned my suitcase was finally waiting for me in my hotel room!

Oh and meet the Mayor of Talkeetna, the honorary mayor that is, Mayor Stubbs.

Next up, my last day in Talkeetna and my train trip to Denali National Park.

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