Train Time!!
We were at the hotel shuttle at 6:45am for the trip to the train station.
Our train trip for the 3 train trips is the Alaskan Railroad
and on their Gold Star Service. This
means we will be one of only 2 cars on the train that will have seating in the
dome as well as in each of the 2 cars, its own dining room and kitchen on the
lower. In addition, each of the 2 cars
has its own bar and bartender. We get
unlimited soda, water and 2 drinks per person on the trip.
We left the station at 8:ooam, right on time and spent the
next 4 ½ hours on the train.
Immediately after the train left the station, they asked us to
go down for breakfast. We each had a biscuit,
scrambled eggs, potatoes and rain deer sausage and it was pretty good.
For the first 3 hours it was just a lot of pretty scenery;
however, Barb did see a Bear and a Moose while Ed saw a Mountain Goat high up
one of the big hills.
The last hour+ the train followed a stream and we were able
to get some great pictures to share with all.
We arrived in Damali at Noon and were picked up by our
hotels shuttle and taken to our cabin in a place called The Crows Next. The cabins go up the mountain in 4 levels
and we originally had a king cabin on the 4th level which would have
been impossible for us to climb the steep drive so they moved us to the lobby
level and into the only room available, a twin but the room is a perfect little
cabin.
We took the hotel shuttle to the Denali Visitor’ Center and
then a park bus to the dog sled area for a chance to see their dogs and listen to
a speaker on how they train the dogs. At
the end of the presentation, they brought down 5 brand new puppies that were
just starting their training and attempted to get them to run back to their
kennel area – it was hilarious!!
When we came to the dog’s area, it started to rain and it
continued to rain gently for the next hour.
We were able to be under a shelter as we watched the dog demonstration.
Then we watched two short movies about the park and its 6
million acres as well as a movie about the dogs. It is amazing how they train the dogs and because
of environmental impacts, most of the part is only accessible by dog sled. We spent some time with a Ranger and they
take the dogs our in 3 person teams for 3 to 4 weeks at a time when the temperatures
are 20 to 40 below zero!! Fortunately,
they have cabins that they stay in each night.
The cabins are stocked by dog sleds also. The longest they go is to the far reaches,
which is 90 miles from their home in the park – all by dog sled.
Then it was back to the hotel and we ate our best meal of
the trips at the hotel’s restaurant called The Outlook.
For a lot of these days, we will post videos at the end of the entire trip on one blog page.
Tomorrow is going to be a fun day as no rain is predicted.
You will not believe what we are going to do.
Stay tuned – night from the side of a big hill in Denali
