Sherman Alaska City Hall – Wandering Dawgs

Day 59: Saturday, July 13, 2013

Nothing could top the thrill of yesterday’s flight-seeing tour to Mt. McKinley and the Ruth Glacier so we decided to take a relaxing railroad ride.

We enjoyed breakfast at the Roadhouse Cafe, another restaurant featured on Man vs Food. After filling up on their delicious sourdough blueberry pancakes, we wandered through the Talkeetna Cemetery to see the memorial which honors the memory of the mountain climbers who lost their life attempting to climb Mt. McKinley.

Mount McKinley Climber’s Memorial in the Talkeetna Cemetery

The placques display the names of all the climbers who lost their lives on McKinley

Mt. McKinley Climbers Memorial

Our train adventure was aboard the Alaska Railroad’s Huricane Turn Train. It is one of the last flag stop trains in the country. Passengers can get on an off all along the route. Anyone going camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, or taking provisions to their cabin in the wilderness can get on or off wherever they wish. Since it is a sightseeing trip the baggage car has open doors so passengers can watch the view without looking through a window. The baggage car was piled with back packs, suitcases, and supplies.

We found out when we arrived at the station that we could bring Blondie so Henry ran back to get her before boarding. She was one happy dog when she knew she wasn’t going to be left behind.

All Aboard!

Blondie wanted to look out the window

Mt. McKinley from the train

Conductor Warren loves his job

Beautiful wildflowers beside the track

Ponds beside the train tracks

Our conductor Warren shared stories about the area and about the railroad. The scenery was spectacular with more views of Mt. McKinley. The train stopped on the bridge over Hurricane Gulch before reversing directions to make the return trip to Talkeetna.

A couple of miles before Hurricane Gulch, we got off the train to stretch our legs

A passenger train goes by on the other track

Shadow of the train on the bridge over Hurricane Gulch

Henry enjoying the train ride

A ride on the Alaska Railroad to the Hurricane Turn

Beth boarding

We stopped at Indian Creek to look at salmon

On the return trip we stopped at Sherman, Alaska to meet author Mary Lovel and buy a copy of her book “Journey to a Dream” which tells the story of moving to the Alaska wilderness with their four children 49 years ago. She signed each book and even handed out a pen with her name and email address.

Home of author Mary Lovel in Sherman, Alaska

Mary Lovel signs her book for Beth

The conductor Warren was disappointed we had not seen any wildlife. Near the end of the trip he spied a moose in a field and ran through the car to tell the engineer to stop and back up so everyone could see the moose. The moose was having none of that and ran back into the woods before I could get a picture. Other than the moose I saw a pair of swans swimming in one of the many ponds we passed.