Alaska Adventure; Part Two

8 June 2013; Up the Nenana River by Alaska Rail --

This morning we arose early [no such thing as "before sunrise" up here near the Arctic Circle in June!], had the typical motel "complementary" breakfast, and headed to the train station in Fairbanks. Sore leg muscles and stiff joints from yesterday were all but forgotten, dulled by a good night's sleep.

The Nenana River spills out from the Northeast end of the Alaska Range [of which Denali is the cornerstone], flowing to the north, eventually dumping into the Yukon River northwest of Fairbanks. It is a fairly placid river further North near Fairbanks, but pictured here close to Denali National Park, it is a muddy, roily, fast-moving mass of glacial water and till. We saw one rafting group, but generally speaking, the water this time of year is not "fit for man nor beast", if anyone fell overboard.

The seven of us were still on speaking terms -- this was only the second full day on which we were embarking! Old friendships should be able to endure for at least a week --- shouldn't they!?

The Alaska Railroad is fairly new -- at least as far as carrying passengers are concerned. The rail bed is exceptionally well maintained. At least by comparison to the AMTRAK route from Seattle eastward! The passenger cars have huge picture windows through which the passing scenery could be viewed panoramically. My "kid sister' and Grumpy gazed out these windows for almost the full 120 miles between Fairbanks and Denali Park station; we were watching for any kind of wild life: Moose, Grizzly bear, Black bear, Tundra swans, --- heck, just about anything alive would have done just fine! Even a caribou!!

After several hours, some of us gave up and resorted to social conversations. However, the Junior Sister persisted and finally caught sight of a large bull moose about 200 yards away, out across a boggy patch of ground. This was the prize -- the rare sight that Grumpy dared not hope for this group to be able to see! And no one had their camera at the ready; we all just jerked our heads around, open mouthed, and in the end, there were only two of us who could confirm the fact that it was a moose and not a rock -- or a Grizzly bear.

Finally we arrived at the Alaska Railroad Denali Station and were transferred to a shuttle bus that took us up to our motel: the Grande Denali Bluffs. On the left is the view out Grumpy's window; this is looking South-Southwest roughly toward Denali Peak -- if it could be seen from here over the tops of the 8-10,000 foot foothills that can be seen. Out this window it is about three stories above ground that slopes further downward steeply toward the near bank of the Nenana River, which can be seen at the lower right part of this picture.

Tomorrow morning we will go over to the main lodge for breakfast at 0500 and board our tour bus at about 0600 for a twelve-hour ride into the interior of this National Park and back. With the cooperation of unusually-good weather -- clear skies and no wind -- we will glimpse Denali, "The Great One", in Native language. Grumpy is hoping for the sake of this band of friends, brothers and sisters, that such will be the day.