After the fun day in Denali, it was time to head back to Anchorage; I have only a couple days left with my sister in Alaska now. Fittingly, the day started with drizzle and overcast clouds, the only bad day we’ve experienced during my trip. None of us minded though since this was a down day that included the long train ride back to Anchorage. After a filling breakfast, we checked out and headed over to the Denali National Park Visitor’s Center. We looked at the interpretive displays and did some people watching too – people from all over the world were there. We then took the short hike over to the Science Center and then over to the bookstore. Once I purchased my final souvenirs for the trip, we walked down to the train station to await our train. After a while the train came and although it was late, we got rolling down the tracks soon. I was tempted to just sit down and close my eyes to doze but I couldn’t let my time here be passed by sleeping. Instead I found myself taking pictures, moving around the train car and standing in the exposed area between the individual cars to get better pictures. I thought the overcast skies gave a dramatic look to the landscape and I tried to capture it. I also wanted to get pictures of things I missed on the ride up. There is so much to see in Alaska since it is so big, untamed and wild.
One of the animals that I didn’t see in Denali was a moose. Not surprising since in three trips up, I’ve only seen a moose in the wild once (the cow moose and the two
calves in Homer). I was bound a determined to get a picture if I saw one. Well, I failed on the picture taking but I did see two bull moose as we rode down the rails. One moose was startled by the train and was running alongside a lake front. By the time I could get my camera into play, it wasn’t visible from my position. Then my sister was joking with me that there was a moose in the meadow out her window (she was having some fun with me) but her boyfriend actually spotted the rack of a bull moose. Sure enough, there was a moose out her window. So I did see two bull moose, but alas, no pictures. I also wanted to get a picture off of the Hurricane Gulch bridge. This 900+ foot bridge covers a span that is almost 300 feet deep. I was able to get a few shots of this breath-taking view. As we rolled along, the railroad employees told us about some of the things that were passing by outside. I think that the team on the Denali-Anchorage trip did a better job than the Anchorage-Denali crew did. Because of this narration I was able to see a beaver dam that was over 75 years old, got some history on how the railroad was built and I now understand how to list out the types of Alaskan salmon.
There were other things I was trying to capture with my camera. One was the amount of ferns along the way, but those are hard to photograph as you’re moving at speed down the rails. We passed fields of ferns that lined each side of the track. When you think of Alaska, you think of cold and snow, but the southern part of Alaska is actually a temperate rain forest. The ferns grow there naturally and in abundance. Another thing that caught my attention was the amount of erractics that I saw, particularly in the rivers. An erratic is a large boulder that a glacier just dropped. Also along the way we saw beaver dams, lots of fireweed and just some simply beautiful settings with the sky and mountains.
As we moved south, the skies started to clear but they didn’t clear fully. This allowed me to take some more dramatic photos as we neared Anchorage. The clouds were still low in the sky and brushed over the tops of the mountains outside of Anchorage. Slowly we worked our way into the city, past Elmendorf Air Force Base and into the Alaska Railroad depot. It was nice to get out of the train and stretch but it was also a little sad since I had so much fun and valued the experiences I had with my sister in Denali. After being denied a pizza at a popular restaurant in town (it was still packed with people waiting to get in at 8:30) we went back to my sister’s place and had sandwiches and chips for dinner.
As we ate, I thought about how I needed to pack, because my flight back home left the next day. I needed to make sure I could fit all the souvenirs I picked up for my wife and kids in my bag since I was at my limit. Shortly, the day ended with my sister and her boyfriend heading to sleep since they had to work the next day. I have one last adventure planned before I leave Alaska and I soon hit the hay myself so I had enough energy for that as well as the long flight home.
Once out of the trees, we are now in tundra. This area is treeless and is home to many of the larger animals of Denali – grizzly bears, caribou and dall sheep. The tundra contains small bushes, many of them berry bushes, and grasses. These give sustenance to the animals that dwell there. It was here in the tundra that we saw most of the wildlife that we would see during the day. The first animal that we saw on the tundra was a caribou on the hills above. This sighting was followed by a flock of dall sheep high up on the slopes. The bus driver had to use maximum magnification on her video camera in order for us to see these sheep, otherwise they were just white dots on the green mountainside. Shortly after the dall sheep spotting, we saw a sow grizzly with two larger cubs. These bears were foraging for berries that were now in season. The grizzlies in Denali are more vegetarian than their Alaskan coastal cousins, who have access to salmon. This does not mean that Denali grizzlies won’t attack or eat meat, but it’s more likely that their diet will consist of mainly grasses and berries. After spending some time watching the bear family, we continued on to witness nature in action. Someone spotted a caribou on the river flats below us. As we watched this caribou it took off in a short sprint; it looked spooked. One of the eagle eyed riders we had on the bus noticed something else that moved, a wolf. As the driver used her video camera, we saw that there were multiple wolves and that they were stalking the caribou. We watched this fascinating display for a while until the caribou moved off and the wolves gave up the pursuit. As we moved on, we also saw a pair of merlin flying around close to the road. This small bird of prey hunts in the tundra and must have caught a meal close by since they didn’t want to leave the area as the bus rolled through.
we traveled on is 92 miles long but we only traveled about 60 of those miles. We turned around at the Toklat River, a glacially formed river that is known as a braided river. Since this was the mid-way point of our excursion, we also got out and had the ability to hit the restrooms, stretch our legs and see the sights. During this time, each of us noticed that it was getting hazier in the park – smoke from forest fires to the west and north of the park were filtering in. The three of us went down to the river and looked at it and the surroundings; we even dipped our hands into the slitly water. We visited the small visitor’s center that is there and then we boarded the bus to head back. By now, the three of us were excited by what we had seen so far – but we hoped to see more. Other riders took the opportunity to doze off – I guess they thought we wouldn’t see anything new. Well, were they wrong. We stopped at a small overlook that had a few trails that allowed everyone to admire the view and to take pictures. This overlook showcased two glacial valleys merging together. After re-boarding the bus, we looked out for a red fox that someone had spotted, and instead of finding it below the road bed, it was above us on the slope. We watched this fox dig, burrow and then climb on the rocks. This fox was much bigger than any of the foxes I’ve seen in the Midwest. As we drove on, we came across the sow grizzly and her cubs again. This sighting was interesting because a caribou suddenly darted across the road and into the hills on the other side of the road. One of the cubs playfully chased after it. We watched this bear family for a while since most people had hoped to see bears in the park. We were lucky so far with three separate bear sightings. The grizzlies were much lower than before, allowing us to get some good pictures of the mother and the cubs. We were all fascinated not only to see the bears as close as they were but to also see the interaction between them, with one cub staying close to the mother, the other cub being more adventurous. After visiting this bear family for a while, we continued on, taking in the scenery and looking for more wildlife.
As we moved on, we noticed a caribou on the slope above us, facing away from us. It was dead still but then moved. Our driver noted that at this time of year, caribou are perplexed by flies that swarm and bite them. She said that sometimes caribou can be found on the road since it is cooler and the flies don’t travel there as much. Sure enough, the caribou made a dash away from us and onto the road. It ran away and then back at us on the road. We could hear the clatter of its splayed hooves on the road surface. This guy actually made a circle around the bus, giving everyone a great view. We all felt bad that he was being annoyed by the insects but we were grateful for the up-close experience. After making sure the caribou was safely out of the way, the bus continued on. We saw more ptarmigan and caribou but nothing spectacular like the grizzlies or the caribou. As we came back down into the taiga again, our bus driver noticed a form in a dry river bed. Thinking it was a moose, she slowly backed up so we could all have a look. Instead of a moose, it was a large dark grizzly. This was our fourth bear sighting! That pretty much concluded our day as far as wildlife viewing went.
I’m an official member of the 30% club – I just need my membership card and a ceremonial pin. You’re probably scratching your head and wondering what I’m talking about. Well, I saw Denali in all of its splendor as we were on the train north. Since you’re likely to have only a 30% chance of seeing the mountain, I got lucky on my first try. Let me tell you a little about this day.
The trip to Denali was completed by train on the 
On Monday, I was on my own since my sister and her boyfriend had to work. I had known that before my flight up, so I booked a seat on the 
The only way to get to Whittier is by boat or car. Boats arrive via the Prince William Sound. Cars have to come through a one-way tunnel. At the top of the hour, cars can go from Portage to Whittier for a $12 toll. At the half hour, cars can go from Whittier to Portage. Oh, by the way, trains use the same tunnel, so your schedule could be screwed by a train either arriving or leaving. I was able to make the 9:30 AM tunnel with no problem and I was shortly in Whittier, which gave me plenty of time to explore the town since I had never been there. Once I parked, I started my explorations around the town which isn’t really that big. I visited the local museum and took in the exhibits. I investigated the abandoned Buckner building (a former military barracks) and noted some of the graffiti. I walked up the roads on the hillside to find a great view of Prince William Sound. Lastly, I hiked some trails that led to several melt water streams merging together to form a creek. Once I followed the creek to where I parked the car, I saw that it was boarding time for the boat.
outside, I donned my hoodie and set my camera to capture the sights I would see. There was plenty to look at – we saw birds, lots of sea otters and seals. The glaciers themselves were also very interesting. We got to see some of them, specially the suspended and hanging glaciers from a distance, but the tidewater glaciers were the coolest. We visited two different tidewater glaciers and you could tell when you were getting close, even if you couldn’t have seen them. Small icebergs and brash ice were in the water, signaling that a tidewater glacier was near. As we got closer, the boat slowed down and then finally stopped. As the engine sound died away, you could hear the ice groaning. Since a glacier is simply a river of ice, it is in constant motion even though it might not be apparent to us. It became clearly apparent when a section of the glacier fell away, calving off from the main glacier. With a groaning crack and a crash of ice into the water, the glacier became a little smaller. The visit to the tidewater glaciers was the highlight of the cruise. Soon we were heading back to port in Whittier. After the cruise I headed back to my sister’s place and rested for a few minutes before heading out for dinner to one of my favorite Anchorage establishments,
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