Alaska Trip Day 11 High Flying Scary Fun

This is the view behind our hotel.

      Day 11 Talkeetna

After Anchorage we boarded a train called the Wilderness Express with open domed windows which allowed us to see the beautiful scenery on our way to Talkeetna. The trip took about 3 1/2 hours. We saw a moose but not much other wildlife. We had a great breakfast including reindeer sausage. We did see lots of mountains and went through Wasilla and eventually we reached Talkeetna around noon. We explored the town which is actually 2 1/2 blocks. We saw lots of tourists and some campers, climbers, and youth. We boarded the bus and went to check in and explore our hotel. It was awsome to go out the back and see Mount McKinley with almost no cloud cover.  The dining room had an outside deck where you could eat and see the mountain.

These flowers were on the back porch of the hotel, the same place were we saw Mount McKinley, also know as Denali. There are other place to see this but it required a lot of luck because the peak is only visible 30% of the time. Originally, we were't going to do any extra excursions here but after looking around we   

decided to take a flight up around the mountain range. We were able to sign up for this when we were in the town of Talkeetna. It was slightly nerve wracking because they were very small planes. We opted not to land on the glacier so as not to have to use oxygen becase the planes were so small they were not pressurized. After booking a plane we

retreated to our hotel and ate and got what we would need for the plane, which was sunglasses and my camera. We got there with litle time to spare and hopped in. I sat in the back. Dad sat in the middle, and Mom got the front seat.

As we made our way upward it was a bit scary but once we reached our cruising height it was not bad. Just a little bit of turbulence but overall a much smoother flight than many big planes I've been on and definately something I would recommend and would do again.

Our Bus and Tour Guides

This is our hotel.

                                     The view from the plane was like nothing else, utterly breathtaking, really glad we did it.

Our plane

Would not have wanted to land on glacier or do the higher elevation ride. The one we did was just right and the company we went with was wonderful. Over all a wonderful experience. We all enjoyed Talkeetna. It was my Mom's favorite town. We loved the view from our room and kept joking that we "could see Mount McKinley from our room." The next morning we got up early and took a 1 1/2 mile walk to the town from our hotel to eat at a cute restaurant. I can't remember the name but it is a place that a lot of climbers who climb McKinley go. There are showers in the restrooms and you can pay for a shower or a shower with a towel. They also have guestrooms upstairs where some people stay. There are large tables and it is group seating. We sat with 2 men from Kodiak who were climbing a small section of the mountain over the weekend. We had the best breakfast including their famous baked goods. We particularly enjoyed the sweet rolls. Many people from our tour stopped in to get some food to take along for our train ride. We hiked back to the hotel, got our stuff together, and prepared to leave for our next location.

This is base camp for the people climbing.