Train to Denali

 

An early start this morning, bags ready at 6am, depart the hotel 8:15am. I walked over to a recommended  local coffee place for coffee and breakfast sandwich to go. Our train departed Anchorage at 9:15am for our 8 hour journey to Denali. The train we were on only had 3 cars, all either Holland America or Princess guests. The train cars are the same as Rocky Mountaineer with-out the lift, but the seating, windows etc are identical. On this train however, meals and drinks are at an extra cost.
The scenery is spectacular from the start. Most of the time the route is following various rivers, and of course mountains are always in view. There aren't many towns, and those few are small. Many small homesteads seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The forests are mainly spruce, with an amazing amount of ferns underneath.  It was a high overcast day, so we could see the mountain tops. The rivers are very high as it's been a cold wet spring and start to summer. Service is good, and the commentary is excellent. I had a bowl of reindeer chili for lunch, very good but portions are not that large for the price. Each car has an outside viewing platform, fairly small but good enough for taking pictures. And of course I took way too many pictures! Here are a few.












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