Traveling on the Alaska Railroad to Denali is a very relaxing way to see this unique country side.
This railroad first opened in 1923 and today we covered 234 miles and approximately 8 hours from Anchorage to Denali.
This is a very relaxing way to see this unique country side.
We're up to Alaska, they go north the rush is on.
Upon arrival in Denali buses transfer you to your shallow five minutes from the station. There are many to choose from and we stayed in the McKinley shallow resort.
Even here outside of the National Park the scenery is amazing, including right outside our cabin door.
One of the most spectacular scenic activities we undertook while in Alaska has to be a fly scene trip around Mount Denali.
Officially known as Mount McKinley this mountain forms the centrepiece of the Denali National Park.
The mountain rises to a spectacular height of 20,300 feet, thus making it the tallest mountain in North America.
This has to have been one of the most beautiful and mystical places we've visited.
A visit to Denali National Park is not complete without doing the bus tour in these old school buses. In peak season be prepared for an early start though as our tour began at 5.30 in the morning.
The park which is nestled on the north slope of the Alaska mountain range covers 6 million acres. It was originally created as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917 to protect its vast wildlife resources including this little fella, the Arctic hare.
The park covers many different landscapes from glacial fed ribbon rivers, tiger spruce forest, snow-capped mountains and tundra plains.
Wildlife can be seen everywhere, like for example these native doll sheep who live high up on the mountain sides.
Another inhabitant of the park is the grizzly bear. There are over 500 living in the park year round. We were lucky this trip to see about 6 of them.
It was probably there for a good idea, but the National Park Service only allows us to visit the park from the safety of their tour buses.
At the 47 mile point of our journey we reached the Polychrome Overlook where an amazing view of the Tolcat River Valley can be had.
It also became obvious why only National Parks vehicles are allowed into the park as the road here was very narrow with a sheer 400 foot cliff on one side.
Many creatures call this area home in the park, including caribou. As you can see we saw grazing in the riverbed.
Always look out for Mr Grizzly to come by.
Grizzly bears are interesting individuals too, as they can range in many colours from a brown through to this nearly silver colour.
After travelling over 100km we reached the end of our inward journey and arrived at a spectacular view of Mount McKinley.
Here the bus turned around and retraced its steps on this, the only road through Denali Park.
There are 39 different species of mammals which call the park home. One of the smaller ones is this Arctic ground squirrel.
Others include what many consider as the symbol of Alaska, the moose.
A full grown moose can weigh up to 1800 pounds and stand 7 feet tall.
It can be very hidden mess with respect to what wildlife you will see in your tour. Some don't see a single creature, others are very lucky indeed as we were to see this mother in her cubs.
On our tour the return trip proved more fruitful for wildlife spotting, providing this close up look at a male Grizzly as he casually walked across the road in front of our bus.
Just over 6 hours after we set out this morning we returned to the park gate and were greeted by what must be the Park mascot.
It was in the same place we saw him this morning.
