#6 - Talkeetna

After the bigness and sterileness of Anchorage, Talkeetna was a breath of fresh air. It is what I had expected all Alaska cities to look like--cute, rustic and small. 

Talkeetna is surrounded by wilderness area and is bounded by the Susitna, Talkeetna and Chulitna Rivers. There is an incredible view of Mt. McKinley and the Alaska Range on clear days. 

It started raining shortly after I left the hostel to check out the town and it rained all afternoon. There are no paved streets in Talkeetna, so my walk about the town resulted in very muddy boots. Nearly everything there is to see and do in Talkeetna is outdoors, so after a quick walk around the town and a peek in a few shops and the Forest Service-run museum, I went into one of the restaurants for a bite of lunch, but mainly to escape the rain. I wound up spending the entire afternoon there talking with a fellow hosteler who was from Germany. Hans is well-traveled and we had a fascinating conversation. 

Next morning the little town woke up to completely clear, blue skies, something I was beginning to realize was something of a novelty. Such excitement the clear skies brought, as Mr. McKinley was visible. What a sight! There are no words to describe the feelings that mountain invokes in those lucky enough to see it clear of its usual cloud cover. 

I set off for the spot with the best view for some photos and then headed for the train station. Unfortunately, I could not find it. In a town that small, I thought for sure I couldn't miss it so I did not ask for directions. I ended up walking for a couple of miles with my heavy pack on my back and working up a pretty good sweat before finally finding it, just minutes before the train pulled in. The station is back off from the main road and there is no sign. 

The four-hour train ride to Denali was very eventful. I met a kindred spirit named Sue and we swapped stories the entire trip, except for several timeouts to snap photos of the mountain. We were thrilled that the mountain was "out" as the locals say. We both had felt compelled to visit Alaska and agreed that we would not have been drawn there to not get the full experience.