We work up early to bright daylight as we head out on a damp cold morning in a 40ish degree weather. We took buses on a short 10 minute trip, from the hotel, to ride to the train. The train would be taking us on a seven hour guided adventure. As we rode to the station, we kiss Denali goodby and could tell as we rode out that there was so much unexplored and uncovered.
We finally boarded the trains and took stairs to the top of a double decker train car. The engines were marked Alaska Railroad. The cars were nice and the seats were comfortable. One the first floor there was a dining car featuring a full breakfast and lunch menu. Keep in mind the food in Alaska is usually shipped in and iced, so never expect the ripest flavors for fruits and vegetables, however, this food was delicious.
The top cars feature a tour guide and drink waitress. The cars feature a full bar with plenty of options and decent prices, considering you are hovering above the ground in the middle of no-where beautiful Alaska with no cares in the world.
The sights and views were amazing and never seemed to end. The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable about the region. Along the way, we saw the tallest house in Alaska, which was built on stilts to be able to see Mount McKinley over the natural Alaskan treeline. We saw two bears and one small moose on the trip.
After a couple of great meals, some snacks, drinks, and great views of the Alaskan frontier, we finally arrived at our destination in Anchorage Alaska.
We left Nenana Alaska and continued the rest of our trip to Denali. On the way there, we continued to take in the beautiful Alaskan scenery as high snow covered mountains were surrounded and covered in dense covered forest. This area of the state is especially beautiful and something words, movies, and pictures, do a bad job to actually explain how gorgeous this part of the world is. The bus driver pointed out the bus from the Alaskan based 2007 movie "Into the Wild" (Sean Penn) as we pass it and the road where the film was shot and took place. Seeing the surrounding area really showed how harsh conditions can be in the winter, where the movie took place.
We finally arrived out our location, the McKinley Chalet Resort, a Holland America owned hotel chain. The resort was beautiful and backed into a miraculous view of the Nenana river and surrounding mountains. The McKinley Chalet Resort included multiple bunking cabins and quarters, a newly built area to eat, shops, multiple restaurants, areas duck away to hide and enjoy the views. Moose are frequently spotted in the area and are told to walk through sleeping quarters at all times during the day.
This was certainly one of the most beautiful places we had viewed in Alaska so far and one place we didn't want to leave. With almost 20 hours of direct daylight and four hours of twilight, it was easy to crack open a bottle of wine or two and forget what time it was.
In this area there is so much to do including white water rafting expeditions, gold panning, salmon bakes, zip lining, a downtown shopping area, hikes, restaurants, river walks, trips to the Denali
National Park and Reserve, and so much more. A trip to the Denali National Park and Reserve can talk up one to multiple days depending on the activity wanted and is a short bus ride from the resort and right next to the trains.
We recommend Karstens as a great place to eat in the area for those who like upscale food and dining. Keep in mind that most food is flown in or not native so it is often times frozen or preserved. Karstens is a new restaurant that just opened at the resort and had many gluten free and vegan options (the sides.) The staff was also very knowledgeable on their dishes.
The Denali National Park and Reserve includes a full free museum which features full size replicas of Moose, Wolf, Goats, Ducks, Geese, and many other animals and trees. Facts of the state, Denali area, and how some of the first settlers survived in the region was interesting to read. The museum also includes a theater that shows a film with interesting facts about Denali, Mount McKinley and the surrounding areas.
Our group took part of a Mount McKinley photography excursion. The excursion was an alluring trip towards Mt. McKinley to capture some of the most beautiful pictures of the region. Along the trip a female moose was spotted by the group as it caught the attention of many people passing by on the road. Some beautiful shots were taken on this trip of local flowers and many mountain views as shown on this page.
After looking back on the trip, Denali was easily one of the best and most beautify places we visited on the trip, easily one of the places we want to stay longer at while there, and a place we will certainly go back to visit later in life.
Sadly we had to move on as the next day we would be taking an seven hour train ride south to explore Anchorage, Alaska.
Our party work up early to head into Denali, Alaska, by Bus. The trip was a little over two hours and included a short stop over in Nenana, Alaska to learn about the Nenana Ice Classic the town and view the Tanana river.
Note: Most of the Alaska trips bus coaches have bathrooms/restrooms in them so no need to worry about needing to get off.
The trip was a breathtaking trek through softly winding roads through lush green forest and high snow-caped mountains. For those who are new to the region, Alaska is a very mountainous landscape and does not include many flat regions.
The trees and forest were so green for being such a white snow covered region for much of the year in this area. Alaska forest soak of the snow melt-off and plentiful sun filled summers.
Permafrost (ground is permanently frozen year around) covers most of the ground in this region, making it hard to farm without greenhouses.
The bus driver informed us that the University of Alaska Fairbanks has
been researching growing in Alaska to figure out which crops grow the
best in the region. We finally stopped off at our halfway point in Nenana Alaska to take some pictures, use the toilets, and explore the local cultures, which were quite interesting.
The town includes a small free public museum where you can buy a ticket to the Nenana Ice Classic (sorry, no online purchases available from what we could see.) For background on the Nenana Ice Classic, In Nenana, the Tanana river freezes over during the winter months. In the spring, a large tripod is placed in the middle of the frozen river and a string is attached to the tripod and a timer onshore. Towns people check in occasionally and an armed guard is placed in a nearby watchtower 24/7 to make sure no-one tampers with the setup.
Last year the Ice Classic competition paid out over $300,000 in prize money, which went to many winners who guessed the same time. Good luck to those winners who entered this year (and future years reading this blog.
We stopped here for almost 30 minutes before continuing on to Danial. Overall the stop included sled dog petting, snacks and drinks, restrooms, scenic views of the Nenana river, an example tripod, the free museum, and friendly people. We boarded the buses again to go to our next stop, Denali Alaska, which we will talk about in our next post.
Our adventure began as we touched down on a nice June day in Fairbanks, Alaska. A nice 65 degree wind blew through our hair as we waited for our buses to board. After flying from Denver, Colorado (stopping off in Seattle for a few hours,) it was great to finally touch down in Alaska after a long awaited trip to begin our adventure.
Our trip included 10 days through Alaska, concluding with a Holland America cruise for the last part of the trip. The tour would be going through Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage. Then sailing our of Seward and Cruising through Glacier Bay National Park, Haines, Juno, and Ketchikan. We would end in Vancouver, Canada for what would be one of the most breath-taking and scenic trips we had ever taken.
Our buses finally arrived as they took us to our hotels to eat dinner and Finish our day. Tomorrow they would be taking us to Denali destination by bus, a destination we readily looked forward to.
For the small amount of time we had, the Fairbanks area is a unique area to Alaska being so large and so far from water. It made me wonder what the residents that stay do during the winter to pass the long dark days. The town is unfortunately over-run by chain restaurants.
We had a big day tomorrow, as we were heading to Denali by bus in the morning. For those of you have had the question, can you sleep in Alaska during the summer? The answer is yes. You can as all of the rooms we visited have heavy shades. We might recommend for those over sensitive to the light to bring close pins, to shut the shades extra tight.
Warning: Be careful traveling in some areas as we were chased by a local as they yelled out racist slurs and told us to leave the area. This was the only time in Alaska we had problems.
The sights and views were amazing and never seemed to end. The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable about the region. Along the way, we saw the tallest house in Alaska, which was built on stilts to be able to see Mount McKinley over the natural Alaskan treeline. We saw two bears and one small moose on the trip.
