Day 2 – Train, Talkeetna, Glacier Landing

The train horns started sounding at 5:30AM, so there was no problem waking in time for our early morning departure to Talkeetna. The Alaska Railroad Gold Star service is a delight. We got right into our spacious observation car and settled in for the ride. No more than a quarter mile from the station, we saw our first wildlife of the day: a mother moose and her calf grazing along the tracks near Ship Creek. Later on, we saw more moose and some trumpeter swan as we passed through the spruce and birch forest. Breakfast was included with the train fare and we shared a table with Patti and Jerry, from Ohio. Patti had no problem filling every hole in the conversation (which was mostly hers, anyway) with tales of their many vacations. After breakfast, we went up to the outdoor viewing deck to clear our heads in the brisk morning air as we continued through the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

At the Talkeetna Depot, we met our shuttle driver, Wayne (more on him later), who told us we were not on his travel manifest. After several calls back and forth with the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, we learned that their records showed that we were supposed to have checked in yesterday and departed today. They told us to come on in anyway, and they’d find us a room. Karen made some calls, the front desk staff got us set up, and we got our room.

It was already after noon, and we hadn’t yet booked our activity for the day, so we had the hotel set us up with a 5:00PM ‘flightseeing’ trip into Denali National Park that included, weather permitting, a glacier landing. However, the tour company told us that there was a strong possibility that there would be no glacier landing today, due to forecasts for rain/snow/low visibility at higher altitudes.

With our flight booked, we hopped onto the shuttle bus for Talkeetna. Once again, our driver was Wayne. We overheard him admonishing some young hotel workers to just ‘go with the flow’. When I commented to him that Karen had been telling me the very same thing ever since we arrived at the lodge, he revealed his inner-philosopher. Wayne looks like the prototypical backwoods fur trapper from the 1830’s, complete with an awe-inspiring beard and the outdoorsman’s presence to go along with it. So his observations and advice (people are all the same, the only difference is their clothing; once you’ve gone off the grid, it’s hard to ever go back again; etc.), carried a certain rustic gravitas. Full of inspiration, we jumped off the shuttle in Talkeetna in search of food and drink.

Sunday afternoon in Talkeetna was way more mellow than I expected. The crowds were small and the gray skies began to give way to some brief glimpses of sunshine. We had a good lunch at the Denali Brewing brew pub, and struck up a lively discussion with the leaders of an Anchorage motorcycle club. They gave us some tips on what to see when we head back toward the Kenai Peninsula later in our trip. Karen also got an opportunity to pet the fur of a living and breathing animal, as opposed to the guilty pleasures of yesterday's window-shopping.

Then, we walked over to the airfield for our flight. By late afternoon, it looked like the skies were clearing, and the flight staff confirmed that our glacier landing was likely to happen. Our pilot, Patrick, did a great job with the De Havilland Otter aircraft and he even let me sit in the co-pilot seat on the return flight. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

Back at the lodge, we ran into a somewhat gaunt young guy sitting in the parking lot. He asked us if we’d just been on a flightseeing trip. I told him we had, and then I launched into a giddy description of what we’d done. He casually mentioned that his family was coming in today to meet him and he was wondering if he should take them on the flight. He also casually mentioned that he had just returned this morning from a 17 day journey, in which he and his five companions had successfully climbed the summit of Denali! What a show-off! Karen later ran into his wife, who said the climbers had been stuck on the mountain yesterday due to weather, and were finally able to get back today when flights resumed.

For dinner, we had some seafood chowder near the very scenic patio deck overlooking the Talkeetna River and the mountains beyond. Denali was still enshrouded in clouds and even though we’d seen quite a bit of the peak while up on the glacier, we never really got a clear view. It seemed like we were going to join the 75% of people who never get to see Denali because of the weather.

It’s after 11:00PM as I’m typing this, and Karen just came back into the room after taking one last look at the mountains before the sun sets. Look what she brought with her – Denali has come out of hiding!  Good night.

Next: Outskirts of Denali National Park