Alaska - Part 6 - Alyeska, Talkeetna, Denali

After our wonderful dinner-train ride we were bused to the Hotel Alyeska in the town of the same name. This is THE premier ski resort for Alaska and was very plush. This diorama had a stuffed polar bear beneath a representation of the Northern Lights. No, we're not far enough north to see polar bears but a black bear was spotted outside the hotel that evening. Alaska is the land of the 3 bears: black, brown, white.
This was inside the main sitting area.

In the morning we rode the tram to the top of the mountain. As you can see the weather was not so favorable. I'm not sure if that's good or bad for those of us afraid of heights. This is the hotel from the tram.

Here's a sign you want to find when you're out hiking!

This is the tram house - up in the clouds.

We played peek-a-boo with the clouds.

We were with many people who were from the midwest and such, as well as foreigners so this was incredibly impressive to them. I discovered I am blessed to live where I do and see some sites like this on a regular basis, though on a lesser scale.

Then we were bused to Anchorage and dropped at their Saturday's Market. Couldn't resist this little sign. Like I said it's a big deal to Alaskan's about how big they are - just as it is to Texans.

Then it was off to the small town of Talkeetna. And what a small town it is. Our tour guide lives near this little town. She is originally from Germany and eventually got permission to live here. She lives off the grid - no electricity, no running water and a hole in the ground for a 'fridge. Now if anyone has ever seen the show "Northern Exposure" this is the town it is based on - not filmed in, however. There really is a local moose that wanders around - lots of shops had decorated wooden ones outside.This is the view out our hotel window. It would be of Mt. McKinley! You leave word with the front desk to wake you at any time if the mountain appears. We had a friend do that on their trip here and she got pictures at 2:00 am (the sun doesn't set around here). We were scheduled for a flyover and glacier landing on the mountain. As you can see that wasn't going to happen!

We ate in town. This is called the Mt. McKinley burger. It's 5# and comes with an Alaskan flag on top. The guy was laughing his head off. The girl cut it in half down the center and the guy was able to finish his half!

This is the back of the lodge we stayed in. We never stayed in anything trashy!
Our next place was near Denali National Park. Denali is the native name for Mt. McKinley and means "The Great One". The park was officially renamed in the 80's.

Moose are plentiful around the park. There is one female who is notorious for giving birth at the park entrance every year. Here is a mother and calf in a small pond. When possible our coach driver would stop for wildlife.

This is fireweed. I'm sure you've seen it but it is important in Alaska. It blooms from the bottom up and when it forms a white ball on the top, summer is over and you can expect snow within a couple of weeks. Better at predicting than some "weather-liars" as one tour guide calls them.

Before venturing deeper into the park itself we were given a nature walk and even classroom instruction about the flora and fauna of Denali Park. This was probably the only guides we had that weren't exactly very personable...

We got to walk under this trestle - after the Alaska Railway went past.

We counted over 10 motorcoaches outside our hotel room. This is how we traveled each day.

This is "downtown" Denali. All closed up in the winter but bustling at this time of year. Plenty of shops and restaurants. Just another spot for a photo opportunity!
After all the towns and shops we'd been to this was Dave's opinion of waiting for his wife! Good thing he had Phil to talk to while they waited for us women.