Wilderness Express to Anchorage
We awoke to a beautiful day in Denali and many of us were wishing we could stay for the day to enjoy the park more and possibly catch a glimpse of the elusive mountain but our time in Denali had come to an end. After breakfast we boarded the bus for a brief stop near the park entrance where we got to try fireweed ice cream and purchase some locally made alpaca sweaters. We also took a short hike and got to see some more of the amazing flowers in Alaska. We also experienced some of the giant Alaska mosquitoes which are a major annoyance.
We boarded the Wilderness Express train at the Denali Park Station for our trip down to Anchorage. The Wilderness Express is an elegant experience. The cars are run independently but are attached to an Alaska Railroad train. The cars are domed and everyone has a seat on the upper level. The seats are super comfortable and there is plenty of room to look around. Dinner is served in a beautiful dining room on the lower level. We were the last car and there is an open area at the back of the car so we got some spectacular views (and photos) standing on the platform.
The train ride was about 8 hours but it went by fairly quickly. We enjoyed both lunch and dinner in the dining car and spent time on the back platform. Charlie was the only child on the car but managed to charm pretty much everyone in our car with his enthusiasm and interactions with pretty much everyone.
The scenery along the way was nothing short of magnificent. As the skies cleared and our viewpoint changed we were thrilled to get a brief peek at Denali though one of the mountains.
Then, as we were eating dinner we heard some people upstairs shouting and the trian stopped. From more than 100 miles away the Denali mountain appeared in full glory. It was truly a magical experience. Since we were in the lower level that had the outdoor platform and I had my camera we ran out and I was able to capture a number of photos. The conductor said that they never get a view like this and that is why the train stopped.
For the rest of the trip down to Anchorage people chatted, had a few drinks and listened to the entertaining attendant in our car. Some people saw moose and a bear but mostly we just enjoyed the scenery. We arrived into Anchorage about 8:45 PM and were met by our busdriver Leon who drove our luggage down from Denali. There was a very short trip to the hotel where we said our good-byes to Leon and Melinda. Everyone was pretty tired so we just turned in for the evening.
