The two best words to describe Alaska are vast and wild. The sheer size of Alaska – 1.7 million km2 – is larger than all but 18 of the world’s countries! Its population is a mere 731,000 vs 21 million for all of Scandinavia an area of similar geographic characteristics. Alaska is home to Mt. McKinley (Denali), the tallest mountain in North America (6,190m) and taller than any European mountain. Denali – the mountain and National Park and Preserve - are central to our visit.
Like nearly every tourist arriving in Alaska by air, Anchorage is the starting point for holidays. The city, that is not the capitol, has over half of the State’s population and is the commercial and financial hub. It is also one of the less charming cities in all of the US from an architectural standpoint, its museum a notable exception. The city sustained massive structural damage in the great Good Friday earthquake of 1964. The city promptly rebuilt with little to no imagination, a victim of the least fruitful era in US architecture.
Consider Anchorage a staging or grouping point only and not a place to spend more than a day or two exploring. Our journey is made entirely by train, no car other than occasional taxi except Denali where only authorized buses will take you to the deepest part of the Park. The 4 star and most expensive hotel in Anchorage is the Captain Cook. Alas Anchorage is dominated by chain hotels with few independent choices but we are staying at the 15 room Copper Whale in the heart of downtown. It was one of the few structures to survive the earthquake.
The Alaska Railroad is a storied piece of Alaska’s history and a vital link to its infrastructure. Its speed will seem snail-like compared to Europe and Japan. That’s precisely why you want to make it your primary means of transport. Trains and boats are the absolute best way to see Alaska offering panoramic views and folksy staff to enrich your Alaska experience.
Our first destination is Whittier for a glacier and wildlife cruise on Prince William Sound. Departing Anchorage at 09:45 on The Glacier Discovery we arrive in Whittier at 12:05 with plenty of time to connect to the 12:50 sailing of the Klondike Express. It was an unforgettable experience, covering 257 km, 6 hours in all with a meal provided. The route took us through Esther Passage, College Fjord and Blackstone Bay where we were amazed by more than 20 named glaciers and a host of sea life.
The primary motivation for this excursion is the glaciers. Our skilled captain and narrator navigated through massive ice chunks getting us within 500 meters of the Harvard Glacier with breathtaking images and sounds of calving (the splitting off of house size ice blocks as the constantly moving glacier makes contact with the water).
Two rookeries were especially compelling. One, a breeding ground for Steller Sea Lions who weigh up to 400kg and the second for the Kittiwake, home to 10,000 of the birds laying their eggs and nurturing their young every summer. We were further treated to eagles, whales, playful sea otters and hundreds of harbor seals.
Our weather was dry with calm winds, not always the case for Alaska summers by any means. The skies were dark overcast making wildlife spotting easier. After docking we walked to The Inn at Whittier, new in the last 5 years but lots of charm and stunning harbor views.
To reach our next stop, Seward, we have to taxi 36 km to Girdwood (this must be carefully arranged) to board Alaska Railroad’s 08:05 Coastal Classic arriving at 11:05, also in ample time for the 13:30 Orca Sound cruise of the Kenai Fjords. Actually, we have time to check in at Hotel Seward, within walking distance of anywhere you will want to go. We took in the fine brunch with fresh seafood offerings before our walk to the harbor.
It is amazing what you can see in only 3.5 hours on Resurrection Bay. Without exception all on board will best remember the Dall’s porpoises who played incessantly alongside the boat. Our weather was vastly improved from the day before entirely free of clouds. This gave us spectacular views of the Chugach and Kenai mountain ranges and their high alpine glaciers. Bear Glacier (a piedmont glacier) and the largest in the vast Park (2,712 km2) was particularly striking. Collectively the passengers must have taken a few thousand photos of the afternoon adventure. I know I took 346.
As entertaining as the porpoises were, we could hardly believe the show put on by the Orcas (killer whales) who danced and sang within a meter or two of our boat. Not 10 or 20 or 30 Steller Sea Lions, but hundreds throughout the afternoon were perched on what seemed like every available rocky ledge. Only three days and Alaska has wowed us.
We had all of the next day to explore Seward, a small (2,830) city but rich in Alaskan history. Like all of Alaska, Seward is meant to be enjoyed outside where it is surrounded literally by glaciers and impressive mountains that includes 921m Mt. Marathon literally at Seward’s door. We chose to spend it mainly at the harbor bulging with fully functional commercial fishing trawlers interrupted by a steady summer intrusion of large cruise ships. None were in port that day, thankfully.
In the afternoon following a late lunch at the superb Smoke Shack, we visited the Alaska Sealife Center, important to Alaskans. It is small and only mildly interesting. It helped fill the time until the 18:00 train to Anchorage which arrived promptly (as always) at 22:15. Another night at Copper Whale where we fell fast asleep from two extraordinary days in the Alaskan wild.
Any itinerary on the Alaska Railroad is an adventure in beauty. You cannot go but a few miles before something special stares back at you – glaciers, rivers, wildlife, gorges, snow covered peaks, valleys, water falls – all that nature has to offer.
Next destination – vast and wild Denali! It’s up early, breakfast and the 08:15 Denali Star that arrives, yes, precisely on time at 15:40. However, unless money is no object, arrange for a €10 Uber to collect you and take you a few miles south to McKinley Park. Lodging inside the pristine and highly regulated Park is quite expensive and can cost as much as €800/night. Denali Cabins will be around €140-150/night. The on-premise pub is a worthy eatery, popular with many of the colorful locals and guides. Most importantly, the next morning you can walk to the McKinley Chalet Resort for your 06:40 pick up by Denali Wildlife Tours. DO NOT use any other tour operator or you very likely will only get to about KM marker 83 and you need to take the tour that goes clear to the end of the Park, 148 km. It’s a long day – 13 hours, but one you will never ever forget. Lunch is provided.
The school bus style coaches are not luxurious. They are comfortable with operating windows, critical for photography. You will see bears, several most likely- the big ones, the grizzlies - 400+ kg, some as close as 50 meters. On our day we were also treated to several moose and one or two caribou. We were not privileged to see wolves that day but a number of foxes. And birds. More birds than I imagined in such a desolate place with extreme winters. Alaska’s state bird, the willow ptarmigan, is in abundance year-round, part of the grouse family. Likewise, eagles- golden eagles not the bald (white headed) ones.
Gyrfalcons, the largest in the world claim Denali any time of the year. Snowy owls, trumpeter swans, horned grebe all call Denali home. Our skillful driver/guide found most of them.
What you might not see is Denali itself. Only 30% of visitors are fortunate to travel on a day when Denali does not have her head in the clouds. And only 10% of visitors travel the entire length. If you do and see Denali, as we did in all her glory and all day long, you are in the “3% club”. I don’t know how disappointed we would have been not to have seen this majestic peak. I will never know. But the wildlife, so close and abundant is unforgettable mountain or no mountain.
Another restful night in the Cabins sleeping in and taking a late breakfast. The train north to Fairbanks, once daily, does not depart until 16:00 so there is not much to do except luxuriate in the memories of the past 5 days. We meet others from several countries with whom we share the adventure.
For me it was a relaxing time to organize over 1,000 photos, doing an early cull and still ending with some 500. I travel with my MacBook so I can quickly see what luck I may have had only hours or a day earlier. I relive it all again. As I am now.
At last the train comes and 4 enchanting hours later we are in Fairbanks, infinitely more interesting and aesthetically pleasing than Anchorage. It’s a late check-in at Sophie Station. Zach’s, Sophie’s well-regarded restaurant is still open offering 8 entrées. We feast and take a stroll around the neighborhood as sunset will be nearly midnight in the summer. The Aurora Borealis can be seen in Fairbanks from mid-August to mid-April. Not for us however, a minor disappointment as we are a bit early.
We generally shun larger tours or those that seem too commercial in nature. The exception is the Riverboat Discovery. It is worth every cent. Continuing with fortunate weather, our day on the river was splendid. Seeing Iditarod bound dogs training for the annual world class event was impressive for sure, not an everyday sighting. Salmon being caught in the river and smoked on riverside wooden racks by native Alaskans was also a vivid scene.
Undoubtedly docking at the Chena Indian Village was the highlight of the visually rich excursion. Here we could see and touch what life was like for ancient Alaskan natives, a way of life continuing to this day. This particular well preserved and enhanced site reflects Athabascan Indian culture at its best. The visualization of life on unforgiving, frozen land was equally stark and beautiful. Alas, another 300 photos to manage. A day we will never forget.
Our next and last day found us at the University of Alaska Museum of the North housing the definitive collection of native and non-native Alaskan heritage art and crafts. The works displayed in an easy to manage setting expand 2,000 years of Alaska culture. It was easy to spend several hours. Afterward we visited the Morris Thompson Cultural Center the highlight of which were the three life-size dioramas. Neither museum rivals anything in older, larger cities. However, each is impressive in their own right as doing an admirable job of giving historical context to this vast and wild territory.
An early evening Seattle bound departure returned us to the “lower 48” the term for describing the contiguous states of the US. With so much of the world yet to be explored we rarely visit the same place twice. Alaska, the last frontier, would be an exception. I would gladly return to sense again its wild beauty.