The trip inside Denali was the highlight of the trip, as you would expect. It's millions of acres of unspoiled wilderness and home to the Big 5 of Alaskan game: grizzly bear, moose, caribou, Dall sheep and wolf. I saw four out of the five. No wolf, but they said the wolf is rarely seen from a tour bus. The bus driver kept a tally of what we saw and said we saw 16 grizzly bears. Our total count was 22, if I remember correctly, but she said some of them were the same bears coming out as we saw going in. She's the expert, so I'll go with that. We also saw lots of moose and caribou, one lone Dall sheep initially, but later on a bunch of about ten or twelve. We also saw a ptarmigan, golden eagle, trumpeter swans, magpies, a harrier hawk, and probably others that I can't recall at the moment.
The top photo is the cabin we stayed in, aptly named Denali Cabins. Nice little place to stay for the three of us. They had a shuttle that picked us up from the train station and it was where the tour bus for the Back Country Adventure picked us up. The Talkeetna Lodge was the nicest place we stayed but the Comfort Inn in Anchorage was also nice - just nothing out of the ordinary other than the stuffed grizzly bear and animal mounts adorning the walls in the lobby. The Talkeetna Lodge also had a stuffed grizzly on display. This one was shot by a ten year old girl with a Remington Model 70 in .375 Holland & Holland. She had her shoulder outfitted with some type of armor to absorb the recoil. That's a pretty incredible young lady that could do that. But that's Alaska. No shortage of incredible stories or people up there.
Other than the airfare, everything except the bus tour was included as part of the train fare. It wasn't cheap but all we had to spend our money on once we got to Alaska was meals and souvenirs. The Comfort Inn had a complimentary breakfast, so we got three breakfasts on the house. The train offers several options for tours. We booked "Just the Basics" and I would definitely recommend taking it, especially if time is limited. We booked an extra day in Anchorage at the start of the trip but I wouldn't do that if going back. Our flight out at the end of the trip didn't depart until 11:15 PM, so we had a full day to sight see and buy souvenirs after already seeing the downtown. I would like to take one of the flightseeing trips up there. Our last day was a beautiful day - would have been a good day for it. I have no idea what that would have cost but since the weather is always pretty sketchy that time of the year, you'd have to just wait and see on the weather until you got there.
All in all, great trip. I don't normally spend a lot of time with the one cousin, so it was good spending some time with him. Cuzzin Ricky and I are always traveling together but normally it's just a quick overnite trip to the races if it's not just an out and back. Now we'll have something new to talk about on our trips. The staff on the railroad and everyone we came in contact with were all friendly and helpful. Our driver on the Denali bus, Missy, was fabulous.
I just briefly looked at a couple of the tours Moto Quest is offering. I also looked up a trip to Ireland and sent away for a visitor's guide to Nevada and California. I'm not sure what's next on the travel agenda but as long as I'm going to teach a few more classes, might as well spend that money on travel.
Enjoy your holiday. It's for all of us working stiffs. I don't do much anymore but I already put my 50 years in. Be safe and have fun.
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