Saturday, July 25, 2009

Fairbanks to Denali by Train


Up at 6 AM, on the bus to the train by 7:25 and pulled out of Fairbanks at 8AM. 4 hr. ride to Denali Park Entrance.

Bloodies anyone?
Had a nice breakfast on the train. I spotted 2 moose from the train but no time for pics, that will come in the Park.

Went from basic tundra and swamp to mountains and canyons in this 120 mile stretch. The only thing that remained the same was the glacial flour present in both the Tanana River that we left behind in Fairbanks and now the Nenana River that borders and drains part of Denali Park.
That's the end of the same train we're on.
Looking straight down from the train car, not a lot of room to spare.

We'll be doing this soon!
Heading to the river with dry suits on. Water temp, 36 degrees. Air temp, 64. 5-10 minutes before hypothermia sets in if we were to get thrown out of the boat without them.

Ronald McDonald gloves....hard to press those tiny buttons on the camera with 'em.Some action on the Nenana. The yaks were there as a safety measure as only one raft went out, plus I think they wanted to play some.

Water level was ok, but not great. Still, a fun 11 miles down the river that took 2 hrs.
Mitchell, from South Africa, who moved to WA when he was a senior in high school, was our guide who did a great job and was a lot of fun.






2 comments:

Unknown said...

Scotch -
Pics of trip are fantastic and interesting commentary to go with! Hope all is well!

mark scotch said...

Thanks, Brian.
Yes, things going real well. A day behind on my blog, though!