So, time for a summary of my trip. Ended up writing much more than I planned... voila:
Firstly, I took a train heading south from Fairbanks. I wanted to stop in Denali. But, as I was on a budget, I found a good deal with Princess which had rail and two nights. I planned to do the one that gave one night at Denali, and one night south of Denali near Talkeetna. Unfortunately since I didn't know when work would finish, I was procrastinating booking anything, and that trip became fully booked. So I booked the one that spent two nights in Talkeetna. As the train passed Denali, I really regretted it, there were some things there that I would have really liked to see, and the canyon looked awesome to raft through. Alas, all I got was the scenery from the train. Which was of course quite good, some coworkers had even been considering taking the train without spending any nights along the way. Though, by the time I reached Talkeetna, that was already 8 hours on the train, getting a bit much. Giant dome windows inside provided a good view, but standing outside on the viewing platforms was better (though noisy/windy). On arrival, I was feeling a bit headachey and a bit sick. Things seemed disorganized, I managed to find a Princess person but they hadn't been expecting me for some reason. That trend continued throughout the Princess portion of the trip, which worked out ok but was quite annoying. I looked around town a while, ate dinner, then took the shuttle to the lodge. It was almost an hour out of town which I didn't realize before. Check-in guy was pretty unfriendly and didn't seem to know much, and because I was already not feeling well I was in a foul mood that whole evening. There's no internet in the rooms, and the internet in the main building was not functioning. There is no coffee maker in the rooms, which is almost unheard of these days, and fouled my plans to eat cheap with the instant breakfasts I had with me from before. I lay in bed that night thinking of all the scathing remarks I would put on the comment sheet.
At least that first day had been pretty sunny, and in fact I got to see Mt McKinley fairly clearly, the tallest peak in North America. Of course, although seeing McKinley is promoted as being a big deal, in a way it's still just a mountain 40 miles away, so it didn't feel that spectacular. Anyway, apparently I was lucky to have seen it. The next day was heavily overcast and gloomy. But at least I was feeling better. And the staff at the restaurant was super friendly to brighten the day. There isn't too much you can do there without your own transportation, you're kindof handcuffed to the organized tours. And those are pretty expensive. Even some guided hikes were close to a hundred bucks. There were flightseeing trips around the mountains for a few hundred, but I wasn't interested enough to pay that price. Some jetboat tours, but that didn't excite me much. I was hoping to do an early kayak trip, then hike around on my own near that lake, and get a ride back with the people on the later kayak trip. But I was told that's not possible, something about liability and the kayak people being responsible for me until I'm dropped back at the lodge. I payed a hefty price and went for the kayaking anyways. It was nice, though as mentioned, gloomy weather. A bit fun when the wind picked up. I naturally gravitated toward the chinese family/friends who were there. They were planning a hike later in the day so I invited myself along. But then, they didn't go. But, talking to the person at the espresso bar during a slow time, I learned of a hike behind the employee housing, so I went on that. Though after quite some time I decided I was probably on the wrong route, and turned back. I found the lodge and area was actually quite pretty in general. The next morning I headed into town a bit early, and wandered a few miles down the road to hike around some lakes. That was really pretty. And I encountered a red fox. Then for the train the remainder of the way to Anchorage (another 3.5 hrs), it was less scenic that that north of Talkeetna, and there was less commentary since most people on the train had come north on that leg previously.
In Anchorage, I just hauled my luggage to the hostel and dropped it off, then asked a girl who was checking in at the same time to go out for dinner. She was from Nova Scotia, about to work on some Alaskan island for several weeks studying birds. The hostel stay kindof sucked, there was a snorer in the room, there were people talking loudly just outside, there were seagulls squawking, the beds were creaky and squeaky. I guess that's the gamble with hostels. Some are quite good, others are kindof dumpy. I was out of there early morning for a train down to Seward (4 hrs).
That train trip I felt was the prettiest, going through rainforesty mountains. I was just in a regular rail car, but the windows were plenty big, and you could still go outside between the cars, and there was a nice smelling breakfasty car. Straight from the train went onto a cruise. Got to see lots of sea birds like puffins, got to see seals and sea lions on rocks. Even got to see a humpback whale, though of course you don't really see much, just it's back and sometimes a tail fin. Got to see a glacier calving into the sea. Obviously I've seen glaciers before, but it was more special seeing it right on the edge of the water for some reason. It was a little boring hanging out by myself though, and being tired from the poor night's sleep. It got pretty chilly spending much time outside with the wind and sometimes drizzle. In the evening after that, just went for a short walk before chatting with some people and going to bed in the hostel. Was a good group to sleep with this time, quiet and courteous mature people. Some strongly recommended the hike I'd been planning on going on so I decided I would do it afterall. I'd been hesitating because of the somewhat dismal weather. So, the next morning I met with the non-snorer from Anchorage hostel who happened to be at this hostel as well, and we headed out for the Harding Icefield hike. 8 mile (13km) round trip, 3000ft (900m) elevation. It was a good distance. My companion was getting pretty tired and slow though. And, being from California, he didn't handle the snowy parts too well. Just have to accept that you're going to slide, and just try to slide with balance. If you try to stop with every step, it's not going to go too well. Anyway, the hike was worth it, and the weather turned out great, it was still cool and overcast but that meant you didn't overheat, and it didn't rain on us at all. We encountered a black bear with cub partway up, actually some rangers who were a few metres ahead of us encountered it. So we had to back off, wait for baby to come down the tree and head off with mom. The other wildlife was of course marmots, there were loads of them all at once for some reason. Near the end I went off ahead so I could do the remaining walk up to the glacier which he had done a previous day, but, it wasn't too special. Got a ride back to the hostel, timing worked out really well actually, just enough time to shower, repack my entire suitcase, and walk to the harbour to catch my bus ride back to Anchorage. Through downtown, to the airport, and off home.
One last trip highlight, I had quite a wonderful girl sitting next to me for the flight to Denver. :)
