June Days Last Weeks

Never before have I felt remote and cut off from the world. Maybe it was the way we got there. The actual remoteness may have had an effect. Their satilite phone was on the fritz. No phones, Internet, TV, or newspapers. No problem. What really got me was the six hour bus ride over dead-end primitive road. We were deep in Denali National Park.

My goal was to see North America's highest mountain, Denali. (On the map it is called Mount McKinley.) The great one is also the shy one. I got my Chamber of Commerce picture while staying in Talkeetna, outside the park.

In the Inside Passage, we saw settlements accessible only by sea. No roads. Off the grid.

On the train, we saw settlements whose only connection to the outside world was by rail. No electric lines. Paths instead of roads.

Flying home at night, 30,000 feet up, we missed the litle pools of city lights that are both beacons and markers of settlement.

Alaska is remote. Different. Exotic. Cliche superlatives roll off the tongue too easily. The Alaskan experience is broader, more complex, and more diverse than my writing will ever convey.

Forgive me as I struggle to express my tumbling thoughts.

Perhaps true and deserving descriptions should be left to poets.

Quick Tips:

Our trip planning started two years in advance. Good stuff books early. The reservations for airlines, ferries, trains, hotels, and lodges had to be made as early as allowed. The problem is, they all allow advance booking at different times. From start to finish, it took roughly six months to book everything. Had any of our assumptions about schedules and availability been off, the trip would have been a total disaster.

Temperatures can be cold or hot. Especially in June. Not uncommon to have sleet or snow in Denali. Also not uncommmon to have highs in the upper seventies. Layer your clothes.

Service is spotty. Many places are only open for busienss during the summer. Don't expect the same service as is found in year round resorts - regardless of what the brochure says.

The Alaska State Ferry is not a cruise ship. If you want a cruise ship experience, take a cruise ship.

The Alaska Railroad's Denali Star service is worth the extra money.

There isn't as much wildlife in Denali as you have been lead to believe.

Mosquitos like humans. Yum, Yum! Be prepared.

One last little tidbit. It never gets dark. Parts of Alaska literally have a three-month long day. Learn to sleep while it is light outside. One of many necessary survival skills.

Best Way To Get Around:

From the lower 48, Alaska is a long journey. At least once in your life, take a ship up the inside passage.

Driving is also an option. Forty years ago, when I was but a wee lad, hardly any of the Alaskan highways were paved. You can now drive all the way without your tires ever touching dirt, mud, or gravel roads.

A number of airlines fly into Anchorage. Anchorage's airport is a modern facilty. Stuck waiting for your flight? Get dinner in any one of several decent restarants inside security.

You can fly commercial airlines to a number of destinations inside Alaska from Anchorage. Most places have car rentals.

No telephones. No television. No Internet. No newspapers. Remote. The Denali Backcountry Lodge is roughly 75 miles (six hours) by bus from the Denali Park Entrance. The Lodge's staff is helpful and friendly. They did a good job of making me feel welcome. The guides who accompany guests on hikes and other activities are GREAT!

Not only is the Lodge staff excellent, but the other guests were interesting people. The guests were the kind of people that are able to make casual interesting conversation. It was a joy to be thrown together with them at meal times, happy hour, and during nature outings.

Food came with our stay. There are no restaurants or alternative food services in the area. You are definitely at the mercy of the cooks in Denali. The cooks are good enough. However, meals felt a bit repetitious. We stayed four nights. Every dinner seemed the same as the other dinners except that the entrée had changed. One word of caution: if you don't eat pork as some religions don't, you are in trouble. Pork is common. The kitchen tries to accommodate vegetarians by providing a vegetarian entrée alternative for dinners.

The accommodations are simple; uncomplicated, uncluttered.

The Main Lodge is where guests sign up for hikes, eat breakfast and dinner, meet for happy hour, and just generally hang out. There is a second story deck that covers a screened-in porch. The screening is important because of the mosquito problem. Lunches are normally held in the Day Lodge nearby.

Guests can take part in a number of activities. Bikes are available for guests. There are a number of calf-length boots as well as hip waders available for guests. The boots and waders are often necessary because much of the area is marshy. Like one big giant wetland.

Cabins are typically arranged in rows. The cabins are off the ground a few feet. Wood decking connects all of the cabins together so you don't get wet or muddy going between the cabins and lodges. Unless guests specifically ask for room/cabin keys, all of the guest cabins are unlocked. I got a key. Not because I'm uncomfortable with the staff or overnight guests having access to my room. At some level, the lack of keys is sort of cute and nostalgic. It helps create a nice atmosphere.

Rooms are cabins. We had two queen sized beds in our cabin. While we made reservations about as far in advance as possible, we were unable to secure a single king-sized Bed. It was cramped but in a cozy sort of way. If you travel with lots of electronic equipment like we do, you may want to consider bringing a power strip. We ended up unplugging lights. Electricity is by generator. The lights flicker all the time.

Bathrooms are smallish as well.

The lodge is quirky in a good way. Worth staying at to be inside the park.

Outside our window, across the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the Alaska Range explodes from the valley floor. The centerpiece is Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.

Often shrouded by clouds, visitors don't always get to see the mountain.

The Room

Our West Wing third floor mountain range-facing room was larger than quite a few apartments I've lived in. We had a kitchenette which included a breakfast bar, cabinets, full-size sink, microwave, refrigerator, and coffee maker. The living room, in the same space as the kitchen, had a bookshelf, fireplace, leather couch, leather loveseat, plasma TV, DVD player, CD player, and a large window.

The bathroom had a corner jacuzzi tub, and standalone shower; only one sink though.

The bedroom had a fireplace, comfortable king-size bed, and a large window. Both the living room and bedroom windows can be opened.

On the down side, the heat seemed stuck on and the room stayed over 75° with the windows open all night. I suspect this was an isolated problem.

From the room and from the viewing deck where I took the bulk of the scenic pictures, the view was amazing. I could see the Susitna and Chulitna Rivers.

The Lodge

The lodge's service was good. Desk people allowed us to check in at 1pm, two hours early. They don't always have your room ready so you can't count on being able to check in early.

There are two restaurants in the lodge, the Foraker Dining Room where we ate dinner and the Base Camp Bistro where we ate breakfast. Service and food are better than expected. I've found service in Alaska to be generally disorganized but not here.

I told my wife, as I finished my most excellent dinner, the only way I would have dessert is if they had Key Lime Pie. They did! Even more amazing, they know how to make it. They make their own deserts.

How To Get There

You can get to the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge a number of ways. We drove the 120 miles up from Anchorage in around two hours. All the roads are paved. Close to Anchorage, it is all four-lane freeway. As you get closer to Talkeetna, the highway becomes two lane. Basically, you just drive to Talkeetna. Nothing complicated. The driveway for the Lodge has good signage. The lodge is just a few miles South of Talkeetna on the Talkeetna Spur Road. I suppose you could miss it but if I found it, so can you.

Buses are another option. We saw a number of tour buses in the Lodge's parking lot.

The Denali Star Train also stops in Talkeetna. The Lodge can pick you up from the train station.

What To Do When You Are There

The Lodge is very comfortable. You can just hang out and relax. If you like long walks, there are trails around the Lodge. You can even walk a trail into Talkeetna.

This hotel is on our favorite list.

We found the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry by accident. We saw the sign on our way from Anchorage to Talkeetna then decided to stop by on our way back. Stop by we did.

I enjoyed spending a few hours looking through all of the old stuff. I saw lots of bits of equipment and machinery that made me think back to earlier times. They have lots of old stuff.

Problem is, there is no context for the stuff they have. I suspect folks have trouble figuring out how any of the equipment really fits into the history of Alaska. The questions I asked and made up my own answers for were, how was this used, who used it, where was it used, what does it do, and so on.

This museum is in need of a historian who likes to wrap (true) stories around pieces in the collection.

Still, I enjoyed it.

Not enough to make a special trip though!

The Alaska Marine Highway System describes the M/V Columbia as having the following statistics:

* 931 passengers
* 134 vehicles
* 44 four-berth cabins
* 59 two-berth cabins
* Dining Room (restaurant)
* Cafeteria
* Gift Shop
* Cocktail Lounge
* Solarium
* Forward Observation Lounges
* Washer/Dryers
* Public Showers
* Vending Machines
* 418 feet long
* 85 feet wide
* 17 knot cruising speed

Passenger accessible decks from top to bottom are:

* Bridge Deck
* Boat Deck
* Cabin Deck
* Upper Deck
* Car Deck

Alaska State Ferries are not cruise ships. We were reminded time and again. In fact, it has become a running joke between us. When service or passenger behavior got goofy at, we whispered to each other "this is not a cruise ship."

We arrived at the Bellingham ferry terminal around noon. The ferry didn't start loading until 4pm. We ate at the snack bar in the terminal building. Their food was surprisingly good. But before we ate, we checked in. Pretty easy process. They are getting like the airlines. No "official" picture ID, no boarding pass.

The ferry boards from the second floor of the terminal building. The ramp goes over to the Upper Deck, one deck above the car deck. This is also the deck where the Purser's Counter is. Convenient because elevators are crowded during boarding. The Upper Deck is the lowest deck that ferry passengers always have access to. There are three passenger accessible decks above it. By the way, Bellingham is the only location where walk on passengers board like this. Everywhere else, all boarding was done from the car deck (one deck below the Upper Deck).

Before you get to walk the ramp below, you have to present your boarding credentials (it's like a ticket) to a Purser's in the terminal. If you have reserved a cabin, you will walk on board and head straight to the Purser's' Counter for cabin assignment and key. If you don't have a cabin, you will race to the best camping spot and stake your claim. More about ferry camping later.

Ship time is on Alaska time which is one hour less than Pacific Time. That is, 6pm in Seattle is 5pm on the ship. I've never crossed a time zone on a gang plank before.

When riding this ferry, you don't have to have a cabin. In fact, cabins cost extra. Some passengers paid for cabins and others elected to sleep in public areas. We chose a cabin.

People without cabins can pitch tents on two of the ferry decks, sleep outdoors in the covered Solarium deck on plastic lounge chairs, or sleep in one of the four public lounges. Chose an option that matches your sense of adventure or your circumstance.

There are a variety of cabin options on board: 2 berth, 4 berth, and 4 berth with a sitting room. Some cabins have private sinks, toilets, and showers. We opted for a 4 berth with sitting room cabin for the two of us. We figured we would be much more comfortable if we could spread out. Yes, this is a bit piggy of us but we paid extra.

The top bunks have ladders which are removable. We put our big luggage (50 pound roller bags) on one bottom bunk and miscellaneous carry on type stuff on a top bunk. The luggage would have easily fit on the floor under the bottom bunks. But then we would have had to slide them in and out to get to our stuff.

Reasons this is not a cruise ship. No maid service. No one came to change our sheets, make our beds, replace our towels, or empty our trash can. There was a bar of soap. No shampoo. Towels, hand towels, and wash cloths were see-through from washing. Exactly four of each. Had we wanted to visit the Purser's' Counter everyday, we could have changed out the towels but that would have been too much hassle. This is not a cruise ship.

The sink and close hanging rods were situated to the left of the door. The toilet and shower were behind a door to the right of the cabin door. The bathroom door wouldn't stay open. While Spartan, the accommodations were certainly functional. No problems with water pressure or hot water. The toilet worked a little differently from a standard commercial toilet. It used the same type of lever to start the flow of water. Then there was a monstrous whooshing sound as the toilet bowl contents were sucked away. However, the toilet worked well. I had expected some form of yucky clogging marine toilet.

The sitting room was nothing like we expected. We had grand visions of a couch, comfortable chair, and end-table arranged around a window with a gorgeous view of the inside passage. While waiting for the ferry to start boarding in Bellingham, we got a brochure describing M/V Columbia that provided a detail map of the decks and cabin locations. We saw that the largest cabins (which we correctly assumed one would be ours) were on the upper deck facing the bow of the ship. We also thought that the Upper Deck would be higher than the Cabin and Boat Decks. Before boarding, we spent some time trying to match the deck maps to the ferry docked outside the windows.

What we got wasn't a cruise ship. The sitting room is somewhat cramped. There is a tiny round table bolted to the floor in the middle of the sitting room. The immovable table had three rather smallish uncomfortable chairs around it. Under the window was a small table that made it hard to look out the window. The floor of our cabin was lower than the deck our window overlooked so that the bottom of our window was nearly even with the deck in front of us. When the deckhands were outside on that deck, they could easily see inside our room. Kind of creepy when you are in your underwear. From our window, it was not possible to see over the bow deck railing. Large equipment is fastened to the deck in front of these windows further obscuring the view. At around sunset, all forward facing windows are shuttered off. The shutters are not removed until well after sunrise in the morning. The Purser's explained all this to us when we got our cabin assignment. To keep the ferry from running into things in the water, they post a lookout on the bow when the weather is bad and when it is dark out. Lights from cabins and observation decks impairs the lookout's vision.

Passengers without a cabin will find themselves living in the ferry's public spaces. We met a couple from Switzerland in the ferry terminal who planned to pitch a tent on the deck. This was their second trip to Alaska. On their first trip up the inside passage, they arrived on time for boarding. Unfortunately for them, on time meant they were at the end of the line. When they found a spot to pitch their tent on that first trip, is was a less than optimal. The second time around, they purposefully arrived at the ferry terminal early in the morning, well in advance of boarding. Needless to say, they were the first in line.

Passengers without a cabin may want to take the Swiss couple's approach. Line up early, maintain your place in line, and board the ferry as early as possible to secure the best campsite location. We had heard that people would pitch tents on the ferry. Seeing it is a whole other thing. The preferred tent and camping area is on the Bridge Deck next to the Solarium.

If you do plan to tent camp, bring your tent stakes. While you can't hammer the tent stakes into the steel deck, you can tape them down. This just goes to prove that Duct Tape can be used for anything. Don't forget to bring a number of rolls.

Almost every tent was taped to the deck. Tent stakes are run through grommets on the tent and then placed on the deck (parallel) and taped down. To further ensure that tents didn't fly off into the ocean, some campers tied cords from their tents to the railing.

Another option, that provides less privacy but more comfort is camping in the Solarium. Solarium campers don't pitch tents. They race up to Solarium and stake claim to one of the plastic lounge chairs. In a lounge chair, you can lie down or sit up comfortably. There are heat lamps in the Solarium area ceiling that help keep things warm. The solarium is open on the back. I would expect that folks sleeping in this area need to have sub-zero sleeping bags. When the weather turns bad at night, it can be pretty cold living out on the decks.

We recommend you get a cabin.

The Alaska Railroad's GoldStar Service costs more. For the extra money, passengers get assigned seating in an observation car with an open-air observation deck and a private dining room below. Also, you get complementary beverages (alcohol costs extra), cute little gift pack, priority check-in and boarding. Basically, GoldStar is equivalent to First Class service on a domestic airline.

We chose the Denali Star Train to get us from Fairbanks to Denali National Park and then on to Anchorage.

Fairbanks Train Depot is a new facility with a few surprising features. However, eat before you come to hang out. There isn't any food service. You will end up eating on the train if you are hungry.

Even though GoldStar service provides faster check-in, don't wait until the last minute to check in at the train station. It gets pretty busy just before boarding.

The Fairbanks train depot has a large model railroad on display. The layout (which is under construction) features terrain showing what the traveler might see when traveling from Fairbanks to Anchorage by train. The model railroad is courtesy of the Tanana Valley Model Railroad Club. I talked to one of the club members while admiring the train layout. Nice folks. Good job guys!

The outside observation deck at the back of the car is covered providing some protection from the elements. The sides and back are open. The railing is very sturdy so you can really lean into it for that special photograph. This is a good place to be for the Fairbanks to Denali run. The last 40 or so miles before Denali provides some spectacular (if not scary) views.

Dedicated tour guides provide color commentary about the sites along the way. Mid trip, the guides dress up in clothing and trinkets available for purchase in the train's Alaska State Railroad Store. Even though the store is on the train, they (and the dining cars) take credit cards.

One aspect of Alaska train travel that you might find peculiar is the baggage handling. All of the bags are loaded into these large plastic baskets. The plastic baskets are then loaded and unloaded from the baggage car using a forklift. I'm assuming that the baskets are labeled by the destination. While it is pretty fast, it is hard to watch. You can't possibly imagine how or where your bags will show up.

Riding the train is its own special experience. In populated areas, the tracks guide the train through backyards. In remote Alaska, the tracks run along the front yards. That is, remote cabins, if they have a front yard at all, face the tracks.

Bear, moose, deer, and other wildlife are commonly seen along the way.

On the Fairbanks to Denali segment, the views are especially amazing. The train clings to cliffs, creaking along mountain gorges. Rivers raging below.