Denali to Fairbanks

The morning after the long day in the park we slept in, packed out bags & spent the day exploring the Denali township. Before we left for the lodge, we went to check out the river behind our cabins and Mush Mountain (above) that shadows the town. (The strange crags on the top of the ridge look like a dog sled team. Hence Mush Mountain.) We were hoping we'd see some wildlife in the process.

We were in luck. Our two moose from the previous morning in the same place. This time they were in a spot where we could stand on a nice safe elevated deck and observe them without danger.

It was quite a bit later than the day before too so the light was way better for photography.

The calf must have only been a couple of days old because his little legs were still very wobbly.

He wasn't much into swimming either. His mum kept trying to coax him in. I can't say I blame him. The snow run off was close to freezing.

Mum was there to make him feel better after the swim.

Eventually they moved on so we set of for the village to explore. Unfortunately the village doesn't have much to offer. We checked out the tourist shops and did a couple of short walks.

We just wanted to go back into the National Park again. The most interesting wildlife were these swifts. They're way more colourful than the common ones you see around suburbia.

We eventually ran out of things to do and set off for the train station to wait for our ride to Fairbanks. The appearance of a track maintenance train has us a bit worried until it rolled off making way for the Denai Star.

The first part of the journey was through Healy Canyon (above). We enjoyed the view from the dome car (below). You are meant to rotate out to give everyone else in cattle class a turn but there were only a few others interested which allowed us as long as we liked. I think most travelers only go as far north as Denali before turning back to Anchorage.

The scenery gradually changed until it was almost flat which was when we returned to our allocated seats. The sun was a bit much and the seats in the dome aren't that comfortable. The terrain became quite swampy in parts drowning a seemingly endless forest of semi-stunted trees. Among the swamps, we saw a couple of moose and even saw a beaver! It was my first one. Even if it was only for a fleeting moment. The trip was actually quite pleasant with the bright sun (despite the time of evening). There's not much of particular interest to mention, it was just a nice peaceful journey in a very different countryside.

Our flight left Fairbanks in broad daylight at 10.30pm. Early in the fight there was a layer of cloud that made for interesting light late in the day.

The plane took us back over the path we had taken over the previous few days including Mt McKinley. You can see from these photos how far this giant mountain towers above the surrounding range and plateau.

We arrived in Anchorage at 11.30pm with the sun still obvious in the sky (despite the clouds). The sun didn't really go away properly until just before 1am. By the time we were in the air again (to Seattle) at 2.30am the sun was peaking over the horizon.
After quite a long lay over in Seattle (where we tried to catch some sleep and nearly missed the connecting flight to Calgary) we arrived in Calgary exhausted around lunch time.

Alaska Summery

To sum up the trip to Alaska I it needs to be broken into two halves.
The southern part of the trip was very wet and quite depressing at times. Having said that, there is some spectacular scenery and the wildlife is both abundant and very cute.
The northern part in the Alaska Range was much drier and very different, equally or more spectacular and the wildlife was certainly on display.

Would I do it again? Yes, I think I would, but would maybe spend more time in the north and not bother with Prince William sound. Maybe Early September or late August would be a better time of year to go. The weather is really difficult to predict up there but we hit it a bit early I suspect.

For more photos from the trip visit my Flickr site.
Resurrection Bay
South Central Alaska
Alaska Range