Alaska: Denali

First, for those who are as clueless as I was before reading my first Alaska guidebook:
Denali = Mt. McKinley; Denali National Park = the park in which Mt. McKinley resides.

To explore Denali, we booked a rail tour through Princess Lodges (rather than the "cruisetour" packages that Princess Cruises advertises, which are much more expensive and less flexible), and then separately reserved seats on one of the shuttle buses that take you into Denali National Park. The rail tour involved an eight-hour train ride from Anchorage to Denali, two nights at the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge, and an eight-hour return train ride back to Anchorage. And I have to say, "glass-domed" trains are the way to go if you're traveling around Alaska. They're super comfortable, they offer great drink and food service, and the windows are ideal for viewing the landscape and wildlife. More on that later.

Before we headed up to Denali, Derek and Sandy escaped their kids for a "last" meal in Anchorage (not technically since we'd be back for one last night before getting on the cruise ship) with Mark and me at Sacks Cafe. They didn't make it to Moose's Tooth or Glacier Brewhouse, so they were looking for their first good Alaskan meal, and Sacks was a good solid one. At the very least, it was a refreshing break from the pub-pizzeria scene.

Their salads, reminiscent of California-fresh salads, were uber-delish. We tried both the bacon and apple salad, and the pear salad. The much-raved-about tomato and gorgonzola soup was good, but maybe because none of us are big fans of gorgonzola, not quite as good as all the hype. I opted for the 3-course prix fixe menu for $35, which was a great deal: salad of my choosing, summer vegetable and polenta "tart," and lemon pot de creme.

bacon + apple salad

summer vegetable + grilled polenta "tart"

Everyone else at the table (Mark, Derek and Sandy) opted for the fresh Alaskan sockeye salmon, served with rice, Asian veggies, soy maple glaze and wasabi aioli.

For dessert, Derek had the creme brulee, and Sandy had the chocolate pot de creme, which was my favorite because of its deep, dark chocolate flavor. It was the perfect counterpoint to my lemon pot de creme - one bite chocolate, one bite lemon, one bite chocolate, one bite lemon ...
Bright and early the next morning, we headed to the train station in three separate taxis. We checked our baggage and checked-in to receive our boarding passes. Then we were on our way.

Ashley's preferred mode of transportation

The Princess rail cars are similar to the Alaska Railroad Goldstar Dome cars, but better. All the seats are two benches facing each other over a generous-sized table, which is ideal for families (although the Alaska Railroad Goldstar Dome cars have similar windows, they do not offer the table seating except in the dining car downstairs). These were the most comfortable train cars I've ever ridden in, and the glass windows that reach up and over your head provide maximum visibility.
They offer drink service at your table, and a full menu of food downstairs in the dining cars. There was plenty of room for the kids to spread out, and they enjoyed the freedom to move around.
And by kids, I mean all the kids.
And right off the bat, we were treated to idyllic scenery.
A little more than an hour Northeast of Anchorage, we passed through Wasilla, which pre-Palin was better known for being the starting point for the Iditarod up until 2008, when the lack of snow forced the Iditarod Trail Committee to move the starting point further North.
They say due to weather, our chances of seeing Mt. McKinley on any given day was less than 40 percent; but four days into our stay in Alaska, and we were still enjoying sunshine, blue skies, and clouds high enough to not interfere with our views of the big mountain. We all got feverish about these first sightings.

Little did we know we would see it again and again, later on this train ride, on the shuttle bus into Denali National Park, and on the train ride back to Anchorage. It looked so white and pristine every time that every picture I have looks like a movie backdrop. The South summit is the highest peak you see. So that must be the North summit just to its left ... I think.

half the gang halfway through the ride - still smiling

my first moose sighting was at lunch

she came to her senses after Jimmy returned to the table

train turning towards Hurricane Gulch Trestle bridge

view as we were crossing Hurricane Gulch Trestle bridge

the advantage of being the caboose: outdoor viewing deck at the back of the train

It was a long ride, but between the trips outside, the food, and the toys (high and low tech), the kids barely noticed.
After arriving at the train station at the entrance to Denali National Park, it was a brief bus ride to the lodge. The Princess lodge is the first in a row of several lodges in a small, unnamed town halfway between the park entrance and Healy.
The lodge's Base Camp Bistro and King Salmon restaurant offer spectacular views of the Nenana River. Base Camp's outdoor patio was the perfect place to relax and breathe some of that fresh mountain air after a long train ride.

drinks at Base Camp's outdoor patio overlooking the Nenana River

Bright, but not too early, the next morning - our reservation was for the 8:30am shuttle bus - we were on our way into Denali National Park on its one and only road. The seats were modified to have seat belts, and accommodate car seats, which technically were required for the kiddies. Luckily they didn't enforce the rule that the kids stay in their car seats, because Trevor refused to sit in his from the get-go. There was just too much excitement for him to sit down face-forward.
The price difference between the shuttle bus and a tour was dramatic (over $100/person difference), and although I figured it would work better for the kids not to have a tour guide talking at them the entire time, I had some concern that we would get no information whatsoever from the driver unless we constantly asked questions. The driver quickly put my concerns to rest. She asked us right off the bat whether we wanted more information or just a quiet ride, and when we stated a preference for more information, she was happy to oblige.

Despite the promise of multiple moose sightings from the outset of the trip, this was the closest I ever got - do you see those the two brown spots amongst the green and gray vegetation?
Yeah, that was it for me, in terms of moose. The driver later told us that while there is a lot of moose around, they're harder to spot because they stay in and amongst dense thickets of trees, as opposed to caribou, which roam and graze in wider, more open spaces.

no moose here

Mt. McKinley (the white peak in the distance)

passing over Savage River

close-up of the ptarmigan sitting on the fence

The ptarmigan's brown color was starting to return for the summer. They apparently turn completely white in the winter.

Mt. McKinley again

caribou

more pretty mountain scenery

The bus ride was a little wearing on the kids, but for the most part, they were champs.

The road became dustier as we traveled deeper into the park, and not all of the windows were closed tightly after the animal sightings, so there was a lot of dust floating around in the bus.

Bear sighting! Can you see them? They're the spots below the snow.

closer look: there's a bigger one and a smaller one

I never got any closer to bears this trip, and that was just fine with me. We finally got to the Toklat River stop, the farthest point we could go this time of year. Trevor loved playing with the rocks.

actual moose antlers (very heavy)

We learned that moose and caribou shed their antlers annually, whereas the Dall sheep have their horns for life. In fact, you can tell a Dall sheep's age by the growth rings on their horns. I didn't get up close and personal with the Dall sheep until our return trip, when Mark and I decided to disembark our bus to hike around the Polychrome overlook, the most scenic stop along the park road.

over the hill and along a short trail

this is what I was blocking - a little gem made of water

Back to Dall sheep. We had seen them a few times in the far distance, like little white dots in motion high up on the mountaintops, and I really wanted to see one up close ... at least close enough to see those horns! In fact, from the Polychrome outlook, we could see a few in the distance, so after hitting essentially a dead end at the Polychrome trails (too muddy and dry brush growing over the trails), I decided to jog down the road toward the Dall sheep we had seen. There was a narrow trail straight up the mountain towards them, so I started up. It was so steep at one point that I lost sight of the sheep even though they were several hundred yards directly in front of me. And then I got to a certain point and voila!
The one closest to me stared me down the entire time.
They were so pretty; it was incredible to be so close to them. Not wanting to overstep my boundaries, however, I snapped a few pictures, and then started back down - more difficult than climbing up. On my way down, I saw the next green shuttle bus coming down the road, and gestured to Mark to flag the bus down, but that was unnecessary. The shuttle buses customarily stop when wildlife is spotted, so they stopped to look at the sheep, and well, they spotted me, too. In fact, someone yelled out the window, "Be careful! They're right behind you!"

We boarded the shuttle bus and although I could never get tired of the scenery, I could not get out of the park fast enough. There is no food in the park apart from the gift shop at the Wilderness Access Center, which was at the park entrance, and I was hungry, really hungry. Mark's emergency stick of string cheese barely helped. So when we were dropped off across the street from the lodge, the Denali Doghouse looked like heaven to me.

the ever popular reindeer sausage

fun at the lodge

breakfast at King Salmon

the Nelson boys climbing rocks outside the Visitor's Center

At the train station the kids were well occupied with a gorgeous puppy with a not-so-pretty name: Muck. I think the owner said it was an Australian husky (which I believe is an Australian shepherd and husky mix) and black lab mix. Trevor happily stuck his hand right into the dog's mouth.

The train was nearly an hour late, but at least we had shelter from the sun.

In line to board the train

Our luck with the weather was still holding up. We got to see Mt. McKinley a few more times on the train ride back to Anchorage.

and one last time

Uncle Mark moved to this table to take a nap, but he was followed closely by his new biggest fan, Ashley, and the rest of the kids followed her there. To the relief and amusement of the rest of the adults, Mark entertained all of the kids for a good while.
And then it was lights out.