Today we are going to be traveling in luxury with the Denali Express. Yep, it is a rather nice train. Our dome car is the Talkeetna (named which in Tanaina Indian means: “river of plenty”), spacious and specially designed to enjoy the magnificent views that are ahead of us. We were passing by the great metropolises of up to 600 in population interlaced with woods, lakes, rivers, mountains, more woods lakes rivers, well you know, the great outdoors….. Still the scenery was rather beautiful in it’s wildness and vastness. Our ride was very comfortable and the weather is cooperating this time with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We had breakfast with Suzie in a very plush dining car with elegant service however mediocre food. Our newfound friend is most pleasant and we are looking forward to getting to know her more during our trip. When we arrived at the McKinley Chalets in Denali there was a bit of a mix up with rooms and keys and luggage, etc. Things did got straightened out eventually and we were able to enjoy a relaxing and delicious dinner of salmon, of course. Daylight or not it was early to bed and sleep, sleep, sleep….

And, sleep we did, about 12 hours of it. Today we are on our own. Well, sort of, that is to say there is no organized tour. Nonetheless we did sign up for a wilderness safari boat tour in the afternoon. The jet boats took us up the Nenana River to a “Trapping Camp” where we got a lecture on the merits of trapping. Well, although I kept my mouth shut, my mind and heart did go out to these creatures that got trapped, killed and skinned in this manner. I do not live there in the sixty below weather and three hundred miles from the nearest grocery store, with no jobs to go to, so keeping my comments to myself was the wisest thing I could do. The guides Buck and Doyle were interesting and hardy souls, transplants from Alabama and somewhere else in the lower 48. By the way most of the people we met were from somewhere else. I often wondered why would anyone choose to come to live in such a harsh and cold environment? Well, it is a choice, a trade off. A long, long winter for a short but glorious summer; getting away from the hustle and bustle of the lower 48; and many more reasons as we later found out from the natives. We also panned for gold with more or less, well mainly less, success. Nonetheless I managed to come away with some itty-bitty gold nuggets.