The 2 1/2 year gap (from 2018 to 2021) was caused first because we sold the NY Co-op in 2019 and then travel ceased because of Covid. An Alaskan cruise was booked for the summer of 2020, but, of-course, it was canceled. Tourism had opened up in Alaska by summer 2021 but cruise ships were still not going. Therefore, we opted for a rail trip through the state. It was a great choice. We booked first class rail tickets with dome cars for excellent viewing and were able to enjoy the countryside and mountains.
We flew through Seattle. The original flight was to get us to Fairbanks by 8:50pm, but schedule changes and then a missing pilot (not sure why), delayed our arrival to 1:30am. After a couple more mishaps, such as the room key not working, we finally entered our hotel room at 2:40am. The rest of the trip was smooth and here are the highlights:
Denali Park Back Country Lodge
To get to the Back Country Lodge, we took the 6 hours bus into the interior of the park. (Private vehicles are only allowed up to a certain point, after that you must use the park buses). The road goes for 92.5 miles and our lodge was almost to the end of the road. The road is narrow and curvy and hugs the mountain with sheer drops for much of the way. Being a gravel road, it was not always comfortable, but it was a fascinating trip.
The drive was more like a safari ride than a transfer. We stopped whenever our driver/guide or a passenger saw wildlife.
We saw lots of animals including Caribou, tiny Dall sheep and a beaver.The caribou antlers are just amazing – almost bigger than the animal and weigh a ton. The animals were close enough to see by the naked eye.
Then we hit the jackpot and saw a couple of grizzly bears mating.
The surrounding mountains were magnificent. We rode through forest as well as low bushes or scrub. Many of the mountains were snow covered and we also saw glaciers. It was too cloudy to see much of Mount Denali but we did get glimpses of parts of it (not the top).
Denali Park is the third largest park in the US. There are very few lodges in it, therefore, I feel fortunate that we were able book Back Country Lodge for 2 nights. I tried to get reservations for 3 nights but they were booked up. The alternative to staying at the Lodge (if I hadn’t been able to get the reservations) would have been a day trip. This would have involved leaving the park entrance at 6am then ride the 6 hours through the park, come to our lodge for lunch and a short activity, leave at 2:30pm to get back to the park entrance by 8:30pm. So glad that I didn’t opt for that.
The Lodge is lovely. It has two levels: top level has couches and a bar; the first floor is the dining room. The cabins were comfortable. Beautiful mountains in back and a lovely fast running river next to the cabins.
The lodge offers hike options and I chose the guided hike to Blueberry Hill and Wonder Lake.
We spent about 2 hours walking 1.7 miles with respectable but not difficult ups and downs. Blueberry Hill is aptly named and our timing was perfect because the berries just ripened a couple of days ago. There were blueberry bushes on almost every inch of this hill. We just kept stooping down and picking the berries as we walked.
Our guide picked some lichen for us to feel – it felt soft and spongy. Picking the lichen does not disturb the environment because you can just put it back down and it grows.
The views of the mountain and lake, were lovely.
We spent the later part of the afternoon sitting in the gazebo talking to other guests. One of them started a fire in a fire pit and it was really cozy.
The day at the park was wonderful, as was the bus ride back. I had my first sighting of a moose.
Denali to Anchorage by train
We booked Wilderness Adventures company, which has its own dome cars that are hitched to the regular scheduled train. These are more luxurious than the regular train cars. The dining car is on the first level and the seating is on the 2nd level, which gives the passengers great views. Unfortunately, it was cloudy with some rain and Mount Denali was hidden. The crew said that this year they had only seen Denali 5 times. However, the scenery was just fabulous with trees and rivers and mountains. This trip had an old time feel to it, with dining on lovely tables with table clothes and cutlery. Very relaxing trip and the 7 plus hours whizzed by.
Anchorage is underwhelming, but we did have one adventure there. Originally we were scheduled for a 6-hour sea plane and bear viewing adventure but the tides and the wind caused the company to cancel that trip. Instead, they offered an abbreviated trip – one-and-a-half-hour plane ride to see the surrounding mountains and glacier near Anchorage.
We went on a 4-passenger sea plane, Jerry sat in the co-pilot seat, another couple sat in the next row and I sat in the back. Since I was the only one (there was only one seat) in the back row, I could look through both windows. We flew very close to the mountains and the glacier. The glacier has lots of ridges on it and is dirty from all the stuff it brings down.
Anchorage to Seward Train trip
We rode through gorges, and tunnels; saw waterfalls, rivers, wildflowers, glaciers and magnificent mountains. At one point it felt like we were riding in a tree tunnel. We saw lots of Dall sheep, this time close enough not to need binoculars. They were running, which is why they were easy to spot.
Seward was full of adventure. Our hotel, Harbour 360 was only a mile from “town.” As we walked in town we saw many signs saying “Go Lydia”. We didn’t know who was Lydia until later that evening, when we saw a parade of cars, honking and waving, going up and down the street in front of the hotel. Lydia, of Go Lydia, was Lydia Jacoby, who won a gold medal 100-meter butterfly in the Olympics. She lives in Seward and has the honor of being the first Alaskan woman to get into the swim team and win. With 2,700 residents in this town, probably everyone knew her. Glad to have been there when she won and participate in their excitement.
Another wonderful adventure was a cruise to the Kenai Fjords National Park. We saw lots of wildlife including: Killer whales – about 20 of them swimming really close to the boat, playing, spouting water, jumping around with their tails beating the water. We also saw golden eagles in a nest and flying around, a Humpback whale, but just the spout and the back (no tail) and very cute puffins.
The not so fun adventure – the Tsunami: Around 10:30pm we heard our cell phones go off and heard police sirens and loud speakers announcing: “TSUNAMI WARNING – EVACUATE TO HIGH GROUND”. There was an 8.2 earthquake in the Aleutians which could cause a Tsunami.
There was no sleeping after that. We got up and saw a steady stream of cars going from the water front to higher ground. We had no car; therefore, I called the front desk to ask what we were supposed to do. Their answer was, you could walk to the high school if you want to. No, they were not providing transportation. Right; walk a mile on the road, in the dark? I figured that I there was a greater chance of getting run over on the road than to be hit by the tsunami.
We turned on the TV, the normal programming was continuing as usual, but on the bottom of the screen was a ticker tape saying that Seward was under a tsunami watch until 12:20am. Tsunami levels are from low to high: Threat, Watch, Advisory and Warning. We never got beyond WATCH; therefore, I was not too worried.
I packed the suitcases and back packs just in case and tried going back to sleep since there wasn’t much else we could do. However, the police sirens were still going off and people on the our floor in adjacent rooms kept opening and closing doors – everyone was confused.
At about 12:15am someone from the hotel knocked on our door and said that if we want to leave, there is a bus. But by then people were returning from the high school and the watch was almost ended. Talk about incompetent hotel planning. Our room was on the 3rd floor of 3 story solid building, and we would have been fine in a small tsunami but obviously not if there was a 1,000 foot one.
Talkeetna
The Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge is lovely with a fire place and an excellent restaurant. The main sitting area overlooks Mount Denali from large picture windows. Unfortunately the mountain continued to hide behind clouds. I loved sitting and looking out, though. It was totally relaxing.
Talkeetna is a tiny town, whose existence is due to it being a jumping off spot for climbing Denali. We did not climb Denali (of-course), instead we went on a jet boat ride on the river, then visited the town’s museum, housed in the old one room school house. The video of the building of the Alaskan Railroad was fascinating. It took very hardy men to do this.
Fairbanks
We ended the Alaska trip, at the same place we began it, in Fairbanks. The town is small (not as small as Talkeetna), but interesting to visit for a day or two.
The Ice Museum was fun but hokey. We saw a video of the ice carving festival each March. Then they lent us heavy jackets to go into the cold room, experience winter temperatures and see some structures close up. We were encouraged to sit on them and take pictures. Finally, we had an ice carving demo.
We also visited the lovely Pioneer Park, with its train museum and lovely grounds.
Great trip!
Final Comments:
- Be flexible. If the cruise you planned is not available, book a rail trip. It might even be better.
- The scenery and wildlife in Alaska is well worth seeing.
- In many ways, visiting Alaska is like being in a foreign country that speaks English and has the same currency.
Nili's Adventure 
PERFECT day to read about Alaska………I think it is 96* with a real feel even higher. Stay cool in Florida!
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