Alaska is 570,374 square miles. It’s the largest state in the country and is about one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 states. It is about 2.5 times the size of Texas, but with only 2.5% of the population!
Today was going to be an odd day. The only thing we had planned was the train ride to Denali. We had breakfast on our own then walked around on the hotel trails for a little bit.
Denali was showing again this morning.
The back of the hotel has some nice sitting areas.
The view from there is pretty awesome.
There is a very nice map showing the different mountain ranges.
Our luggage was picked up at 9:30 and we were on the bus
by 9:50. We didn’t need to catch the train until 11:30 so we were dropped off in
Talkeetna to shop and walk around. I
managed to pick up a few souvenirs.
We hopped on the bus for a very short ride to the Rail
Depot. This is the same train we took
from Anchorage a couple of days ago. On
that day we were getting off the train at this time.
This time we were in the next to last car. Still a double decker with great views.
Lunch was served fairly soon after we started the trip. Mark had a halibut wrap and I had a French dip sandwich. The food was very good.
With a five-hour ride, we had a few refreshments along
the way.
While we were on the train, Andrew – our driver, was driving the bus to Denali to pick us up.
The train stopped in Denali NP and we spent a little time taking pictures before getting on the bus and heading to our hotel.
As we neared the park, we noticed that the air was getting hazy, and were informed there was a smoke advisory. We were told there were about 400 fires burning in Alaska. Even with the closest fire being 40 miles away, the air was thick with smoke.
We got to our hotel about 5:00.
Our room looked comfortable but without air conditioning or a fan. It was warm and smoky. Again, not the plan!!
Our room had a small balcony with a nice view but with the smoke, we didn’t spend any time on it.
We were all back on the bus by 5:30 to head out for a
group dinner.
If you have seen the movie Into the Wild, this is the bus from the movie. We had not seen the movie but watched it after we got back home.
We were back at the hotel by 8:00 pm and ready for a warm night.
Next time: Back on the bus. This time a different bus.
Loved that mosquito warning sign! We saw the McCandless bus on an ATV trip when we were there in 2010. At that time the bus was still out "in the wild". I can't recall if I saw the movie but I definitely remember the book so was interested in seeing the bus and where the end happened. I remember seeing it had been removed to keep people from going out there and getting into trouble. Is this bus the original, or a movie set replica? .
ReplyDeleteThis was the movie bus. The original was extracted and is in storage. They had to pull it out as 2 folks had died and at least 15 rescued trying to reach it.
DeleteThe thing I remember most about the size of Alaska is all the transportation you had to take to get to see what your tour wanted you to see. It is a vast land. We took many buses too, along with train's, a catamaran, and lastly rafts on a river. I can’t remember doing kayaking though.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, being on buses is not our preferred way to travel, but it was necessary here. See the next blog for even more bus adventure!
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