Tuesday June 17, 2014
This is the mushy part of the journal so it might be a good time for you to go grab a bag of popcorn. I'd dated Terry for two years, engaged for one and been married for 35. After the first or second date I knew I wanted to spent the rest of my life with her, by my side forever and ever. I always felt like I could be myself whenever I was around her. She was friendly, fun, warm and giving . Over the years she wrapped herself tightly around my heart. And she was perfect for the guy who had a traveling bone that just wouldn't quit. We traveled coast to coast, all fifty states and multiple foreign countries. She was the perfect companion.
During our breakfast of sausage, quiche, fried potatoes and fruit covered French toast we visited with Mike and Sue. It was easy to see the love they had for one another. Mike had invested himself fully in Sue's dreams and they had blossomed into something incredibly beautiful. It was a striking reminder that I too had a special someone who was giving enough to invest in my crazy dreams and wanderings. Someone special who would crawl 150 feet through a drain pipe to help me grab a geocache or swat mosquitoes for two hours so I could get a photo of a train crossing a bridge.
We thanked Mike and Sue for their gracious hospitality and then headed south. We made stops at a reindeer farm, the Mears Memorial Bridge at Nenana, numerous geocaches and every beautiful spot along the route.
As we entered Denali National Park a chaotic collection of cars were pulled off at odd angles along both sides of the road. Yup, moose! The calf was munching some plants a mere three feet from the road. What a great welcome to Denali! How could it get any better than this? Yup, we heard a train whistle! We did a quick U-turn and caught the appropriately named "Spirit of Moose Pass" SD70MAC #4003 at the railroad crossing.
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| It is very difficult for the average tourist to make good time on the route when the beauty of Alaska beckons. | Earthy hues topped with evergreens along the drive through Nenana Canyon. | The Nenana River supports a wide variety of fish including grayling, northern pike and three types of salmon. |
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On February 26, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill creating Mount McKinley National Park. In 1980 the name was changed to Denali National Park and Preserve. |
Although the national park is comprised of 9,000 square miles of wild terrain this little fellow decided to grab his lunch along the roadside. |
What does a Alaska Railroad addict do when he sees a train? He chases it. Terry and I were fortunate enough to catch it at one of the classic photo op spots along Nenana Canyon. Below are the photos Terry and I took. Which one do you like best? Drop me a email and let me know. Vote either "John" or "Terry" please.
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One of my favorite "northern" photo ops locations is the view of Riley Creek Trestle from inside the park. Randy Thompson had showed me his "spot" back in 2000 and I've always wanted to go back and duplicate the fun. As we drove up into the park I kept an eye in the rear view mirror until I spotted that familiar black bridge. We pulled the car off the road, put on the parking brake, turned on the emergency flashers and walk back down the road about 30 feet. Now was the time for patience. I knew the coal train would be along soon and stood in anticipation. As others drove up and down the hill they turned to see what I was looking at. A few even stopped to ask. None joined me in my lunacy. Eventually, I became concerned so I made a phone call. Yes, the train had been delayed. Long story short, Terry and I waited for over two hours before the delinquent train came into view. I am very grateful to have such a patient wife!
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| Southbound coal train crosses Riley Creek Trestle | Denali Park Hotel office | One of two Denali Park Hotel employee housing units |
Savage River is about the furthest a tourist can drive into Denali so we decided to go all the way. The speed limit was 35 mph and it should have taken us a half an hour to get there, but we investigated yet another moose grazing alongside the road. As we reached the parking lot the weather turned cold and rainy. Phooey! Leaving the park we decided to grab some sub sandwiches at "Glitter Gulch" and drive around for a bit.
We encountered three Alaska Railroad passenger cars ten miles north of the park entrance at the Denali Park Hotel. These Pullman railcars were originally World War II troop sleepers. [Clarifiction note from Casey Durand: "Big windows are troop sleepers and small windows are kitchen cars."]. One of the cars serves as their lobby and the other two as employee housing units.
We also stopped at the railroad overpass at Healy to grab a dark, rainy, "camera shake as I shot out of the car window" photo of the Healy Express (HEX) Daily. James Ogden explains, "The HEX operates with only Holland America and Princess cars, no Alaska Railroad passenger cars. Passengers are loaded in Anchorage, and the train makes stops in Talkeetna and Denali Park. Typically only Princess passengers use the Talkeetna stop, as Princess Cruises has a lodge about 45 minutes away. There are no passengers on the train north of Denali Park. After disembarking everyone, the on board staff and train crew take the train another 45 minutes north, to Healy. The on board staff gets off there, and the train crew wyes the train. If necessary, they also perform any switching required to get the train ready for the southbound trip the next day. The train crew stays in a hotel in Healy."
We arrived at the Hotel Nord Haven at 10:30 PM amidst an annoying drizzling rain. We ate our subs as we downloaded photos, worked on our journals and grazed through Facebook.