Alaska Trip Day 6 – McKinley Explorer Train Ride
July 23, 2023
We left our luggage outside our cabin door at 5:45am this morning. At about 7:15am we left the McKinley Lodge on a bus traveling to the train depot where we boarded around 7:30am. Train left the depot about 8am, 15 minutes early.
The train was very nice and modern. It had 2 levels, the bottom being the kitchen and dining rooms, and the top was the passenger area. It had windows that went up the side and over the roof to allow you to view the sites no matter where they were. It was so nice.
One of the highlights of the sites to see was again, Denali Mountain. It was another very clear day, without hardly a cloud in the sky. An event that rarely happens. Multiple times we rounded a corner and there it was, clearly to be seen, all white with snow, standing taller than anything else around.
The trip took about 9 hours to travel over 300 miles from Denali National Park to the small town of Whittier, a port town where the Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship was awaiting our arrival. This train had 2 cars for Holland America Cruise Line passengers and 3 cars for Princess Cruise Line passengers. A total of 449 passengers, with about 30 staff and 2 engineers and 1 conductor… totaling 482 people.
Our train car had a rail guide (named Rhonda) who narrated our trip when certain views or sites were coming up. She was very informative and funny. We also had a “bartender” (named Mary Catherine, or usually called MC) that served us drinks and snacks along the way. We had hot chocolate and ice tea, along with large cinnamon rolls for breakfast. My cinnamon roll had pieces of bacon on it. That was different, but was good. For lunch we went downstairs to the dining room and Renee was served the Conductor’s Cheeseburger and chips and I had the Seafood Sandwich with chips and coleslaw. Both were actually really good.
After lunch we went back upstairs. Some of the sites were, other than Denali, a really tall bridge over a gulch/river, many small cabins in very remote areas, people camping in tents, and some mountain climbers up on mountains. Some of the animals we saw were some Dall Sheep up top of several mountains, and two opportunities to see a moose. Unfortunately, the moose was quite skittish and we couldn’t move fast enough to capture it on our camera.
Before entering our final destination, Whittier, we had to go thru two tunnels. The first was quite short going through the mountain. The second was a long tunnel used by both trains and cars/vehicles, and was one-way. The tunnel was 2-1/2 miles long, and was the only way to get to Whittier from the north/west side. You had to get clearance before entering. Once the train entered the tunnel, all vehicle traffic was kept out until the train exited the tunnel.
As we got close to ending our train ride, a trio of the staff on board treated us with a song for our car. It was a fun touch to an amazing ride on the train.
When approaching the Whittier port, there was the Holland America Line ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam. We processed through security, then boarded the ship. Following our train, another train arrived shortly thereafter with more cruise passengers.
Our room on the ship is very nice. A king bed and a balcony on the 8th deck of the ship. After performing the safety procedures that everyone has to do, we went to the Lido Deck and got some supper. I had some more Alaskan grilled salmon. So good! Ship left the port about 8pm. Tomorrow we will stay on the ship and view the Hubbard Glacier.