July - A month of exploring Denali, riding the train to Anchorage, and friends

The month of July has been filled with exploring the backcountry of Denali - twice. Areas like Savage River, Sanctuary River, and Primrose Point were in our sights both early and late in the month. With only one road into the backcountry of Denali National Park, Susan and I (joined by our Yellowstone friend and Georgia neighbor Diane Nachel who is also working here in Denali) hopped onto the green bus shuttle that goes 43 miles into the park...and hopped off at Savage River.  

Loop hikes are my favorite, and this Savage River hike fits - 3/4 mile along the river bank, cross the bridge, and then back up the other side...

...and we were joined by a family of ptarmigans, the state bird of Alaska.  

This mama bird was taking care of her 8 chicks, and the ptarmigan blends in so well.  During the winter, the ptarmigan changes color to pure white, so it matches the snow that we get in abundance in Alaska. We measure snow in feet, not inches; Denali gets 3 to 5 feet of snow in the winter!  

Then we walked up to Primrose Point for lunch.  Arrow points at Denali - 20,310 feet

As we were having lunch, a fox trotted by with its lunch! 

There were some beautiful flowers along the way:  larkspur and fireweed.

Later in July, we had beautiful weather as we explored along the Sanctuary River at mile 22 on the Park Road.

 

The fireweed much taller than we remembered from 2018.  Could it mean an early snow? Stay tuned!

We were blessed to see a number of animals on this trip: a couple of grizzly bears and a pair of fox kits playing right outside their den, Unfortunately they were too far away for decent pictures.  However, these caribou were close enough.  

Those antlers weigh over 40 pounds! Unlike other members of the deer family (elk, moose, as well as deer), both male and female caribou have antlers. They keep those antlers most of the winter before they fall off.

In mid-July, we took a weekend trip on the Alaska Railroad, heading to Anchorage.  It was a long 8 hours, but the scenery was spectacular.  

I sat in the dome car most of the trip, checking out the sights. 

 

Started in 1903, the Alaska Railroad zero milepost is in Seward, but the tracks only made it 50 miles north from Seward before the owners went bankrupt in 1907.  Reorganized in 1910, the new corporation was able to lay another 71 miles of track, still well short of Anchorage and nowhere near the interior of Alaska, where the mineral richness would be found.  However, that company also failed. So in 1914, the US Congress stepped in to fund the railroad in the territory of Alaska. In 1923, President Warren Harding (trying to escape from the Teapot Dome Scandal) came to Alaska to drive the Golden Spike in Nenana, marking the completion of the tracks from Seward to Anchorage and north to Fairbanks. 

The tallest trestle on the Alaska Railroad is over Hurricane Gulch, over 900 feet long and 300 feet above Hurricane Creek.

 

This is an Alaska Railroad photo from below the bridge.  Amazingly built in the 1920s!

Ownership of the Alaska Railroad transferred from the US Government to the State of Alaska in 1984.  The Alaska Railroad Corporation is now owned by the State of Alaska, and is fully self sustaining; i.e., no state funds are used for railroad operations.  Here is a link to a quick Fact Sheet about the ARR. 

We spent the night in Anchorage and in the morning did a trolley tour of the city.  One of the highlights was Lake Hood, the world's busiest seaplane base.  

 

We took a much quicker 4 hour motorcoach back to Denali and went to work on Friday.  A great getaway and wonderful treat riding the rails of the Alaska Railroad!

We got a surprise visit from one of our Yellowstone friends and traveling companions.  Karen and Neil Denowitz were on an Alaska cruise with their family and were headed home from Anchorage when the CrowdStrike meltdown occurred, severely impacting Delta Air Lines.  Perfect timing for a quick trip to see us!  We had dinner at one of our favorite local spots, Creekside - about 7 miles south of Denali.

So now we're into the August grind - last month of work before heading home.  We've had some great memories and there are more to come this month. We'll keep you posted.