Lessons learned from a first trip to Alaska

(And I would sail 500 miles, and I would sail 500 more . . .) We left Denali by train, taking a scenic railroad car with a glass top to Fairbanks, our last Alaskan stop.  It was just a place to sleep for us:  We were on an early morning flight back to Seattle and [...]

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Reindeer hot dogs!

I nearly forgot to mention my best new junk food discovery in years—and the highlight of land-based Alaskan cuisine–reindeer hot dogs.  (Also reindeer sausage, which tasted exactly the same to me).  I discovered them first at the concession stand at the Alaska SeaLife Center and later at the concession in Denali National Park.  Boy were [...]

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Last Looks at Denali and the Ranger of the Lost Art

When we got back from the natural history tour, we had only a couple of hours left before the train ride to Fairbanks—and the end of our tour. I used the two hours to do two things:  (1) go to the bookstore to pick up souvenirs, and (2) take one last walk on the trails [...]

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Primrose Ridge

Beautiful!

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Touring the taiga

  The Denali Natural History Tour took us through the boreal forest, or taiga – which we were told repeatedly means “land of little sticks” in Russian. White spruce dominate, and you find lots of low shrubs and berries—blueberries, crowberries, wild rose, and lowbush cranberries.  Other trees include black spruce (in areas with poorly drained soil), [...]

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Denali National Park: Getting Down the Road

  There’s only one road into Denali National Park.  It’s 92 miles long, traveling mostly west from the Visitor’s Center, and, after mile 15, it’s closed to private vehicles.  Based on my experience, I’d say that you should plan to camp somewhere inside the park, to do some off-trail hiking, and to spend at least [...]

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Rangers’ Walking Tours in Denali

Denali National Park is beautiful and wild.  But unlike most parks in the lower 48, it’s a bit of a challenge to immerse yourself in it fully if you aren’t up for off-trail hiking.  There are very few trails, and most of the ones that do exist begin and end not far from the park [...]

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Motion sickness rears its ugly head

The next day we got into the bus and headed higher up into the mountains toward Denali National Park.   Oddly enough, this is when the sea sickness really hit me. I had been feeling off kilter since Juneau.  The world felt like it was rocking a little bit most of the time–whether we were on land [...]

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