Leaving Denali, we traveled through outstanding scenery on our way to Montana Creek near the Talkeetna exit We stopped several times to take in the views. Denali was still hidden in cloud-cover so we concentrated on these mountains just south of the Parks Highway. We managed to spot moose and fox on the drive in the morning.
After setting up the motorhome in the State Recreation Campground at Montana Creek, we took a quick drive into nearby Talkeetna. After finding a parking spot, Jason and I climbed up to the tracks to see this unusual parked railroad car. It was a Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety traveling office. The car generators were running and I assume there was something going on inside. Walking around the car, we noticed there were a myriad of cameras facing in all directions and multiple radar-looking pieces protruding from the roofline. We decided to walk away and find other railroad items to look at.
Down the track, the Denali train had just pulled into the station for what was supposed to be a 15 minute stop. We waited, and waited and when we heard sirens, we knew something was wrong. The ambulance pulled up to a car on the train, apparently someone had fallen out when exiting. When a second vehicle pulled up (the emergency responders investigators) we decided to take one more photo then find something else to view.
Jason was looking forward to seeing the train depart.
We walked in town, going from shop to shop. Jason had a little trouble keeping his hands in his pockets. Here we are coming out of one of our favorite stores, the gallery of woodworking, paintings, photographs and heavy glass decorations. $$$ Favorite yes, but we have yet to spend here.
Jason is enjoying a cold root beer after leaving the shop in the last shot. More to his liking! We also picked up a couple of sodas in the general store, which has been in operation since the 1920s.
Now we took a little time for a few glamor shots…
Looking back at the town, the general store is the two story on the left and the two story on the right is the 1920s hotel.
Walking a back street we noticed this original camp building built by the railroad in the early 20th century. I assume it is part of the Curry Company that used to be heavily involved in the Yosemite National Park operations. UPDATE: There is no apparent tie-in between the Curry Hotel in Talkeetna and Camp Curry in the Yosemite Valley . . .
We walked to the end of the main street, which culminated in the junction of the Talkeetna and Susitna Rivers. You can see the clear Susitna in the back and the silt-laden Talkeetna in the foreground
This is one of the private runways in Talkeetna. Notice the very large bush tires on these planes.
We drove out to the Talkeetna Airport. This airport is where a majority of the Denali Expeditions depart from. We learned in the ranger station that 1226 persons registered for the Denali climb this year, 1226 returned (yes, they keep track) and a little over 60% actually made the summit. I wanted to show Jason the transportation that nearly all the Denali mountaineers take to the start of the climb. The pilot saw us standing well away from the aircraft and photographing the planes and gave Jason a personal tour of the plane. Jason enjoyed being at the helm of the vintage DeHavilland, valued at about $800K. This plane seats up to 11 persons and has a capacity of a about 1,200 pounds of payload. The plane in the last photo currently runs about $5M and seats 20 with a capacity of about 2,500 pounds. They were both originally radial engine designs but have been upgraded to turboprops.
Back in our campsite, we ran the generator to refresh the batteries (and watch a movie) then went to bed so we would be ready to fish the creek in the morning. Here we go, down to the creek in our matching outfits.
We were hoping for the silver salmon run but caught the tail end of the pinks. It is amazing how the body of these fish change as the travel upstream, notice the distinct hump on the back of the mature ones. These are referred to as “humphies”. Well, I finally caught my limit (six fish) after a couple of hours and we called it a day. The following four photos were taken by my assistant photographer, Jason.
This is Jason proudly holding my first of the smaller pinks.
This second small pink was still flopping pretty wildly and Jason lost his grip
and chased the guy back to the creek.
Jason hooked three of these guys himself. We returned all of the fish to the creek as none were hooked badly. They need to continue their spawn and make more for next time.
We watched as three of the Alaska Railroad Denali/New Holland/Princess trains went by on the nearby railroad trestle over the creek. Jason managed to find two Alaska railroad spikes which we will be carrying home and cleaning.
Travelling with the Schinglers 