Alaska Adventures: Day 4--June 22

Tue. June 22: 7:10 came early but we wanted to eat breakfast and had to repack the bags before 8:00. We met Ann & Shelby at the lodge and got coffee and, as we tried to make a plan for the morning, we slowly discovered that we could take the free shuttle back to the park, visit the Visitor Center, do some hiking and then walk across the street to the train station, rather than returning to the lodge and waiting in yet another bus line. We bought yogurt parfaits to save to eat before we got on the train. It turned out to be a great plan! It was a beautiful, sunny day with comfortable temperatures, approaching 70 or so. The shuttle dropped us at the Visitor Center and, right at the entrance, there was a baggage claim so Ann didn’t have to keep her small rolling bag with her all morning. We watched the center’s film called “Heartbeat of Denali” and spent quite a bit of time looking at the excellent displays. A ranger talk about the animals of Denali was beginning so we went to the theater to hear it. But it was getting later in the morning and we still wanted to do some hiking so we left before he ended. We made our way to a path that went by the train station and then through the woods for twenty minutes or so and returned us to the Visitor Center, where Ann picked up her bag, and we headed back to the train station to eat our yogurt parfaits. As we finished, we saw the Princess buses pulling up and saw Connie get off of the first one. We checked in with her and waited with the group for the train, which arrived about 45 minutes late, for some reason. We settled into our seats at a table “up top” where we could watch the beautiful scenery and were on our way. Our host, Matt, gave historical, geological, and cultural information as we went along. Despite watching like a hawk we saw only one bald eagle eating a fish by a river, and one moose running away from the train. But it was a very enjoyable way to travel for four hours.

We got off the train and the coach took us a mile or so to Talkeetna. We had the option to stay there and look around the town, which the four of us and only a few others chose to do. Talkeetna is the town on which Cecily, Alaska was based in the show Northern Exposure. Although it doesn’t really look like it, it definitely had the same “feel” with a Main Street that began and ended in about three blocks and had more pedestrian than vehicle traffic. There are several historic buildings that date from the 20s and 30s and mostly house gift shops now. We had a really good dinner at the Talkeetna Grill and Denali Brewery where we enjoyed their Red brew long with the half pound burger (Marv) and veggie burger (Peggy had her vegetarian day for the week today). Most of the shops closed at 6:00 so we just wandered down Main Street and read the historical notes on the old buildings. We caught the shuttle to the Lodge, which is an hour’s drive away and is within the Denali State Park. The Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is very different than the Denali Lodge because it really is nestled into the wilderness of the park with nothing else near it. We were happy that we had seen Talkeetna while we were there and, with no excursions planned, we will stay at the Lodge for the whole day for a change. After a long soak in the hot tub (all but Shelby, of course, and again with a great mountain view) we went to bed about 11:00 with the sun again on the mountain tops.