home > D Geek's Travels > Pictures > Saturday, June 8, 2013

This page is to help you quickly jump through this picture set. Below you will see a listing of the pages and the captions on that page.

  • Page Number: 1
    A little after 1:00pm we set off from the rail depot on our way to Talkeetna. The first portion was a gravel roadway.
    We passed several homes along the way. Some under construction/renovation like this one.
    After about 5 minutes or so we reached the paved road.
  • Page Number: 2
    An eagle soaring nearby.
    It was only a 10 minute ride to town. Here are the outskirts.
  • Page Number: 3
    The bus dropped us off in a gravel lot near the Jet Boat Adventures.
    And across from the post office.
  • Page Number: 4
    From there it was a short walk to the main street.
    For some reason I did not take any wide shots of the area.. oops.
    Several excursion options in the area.
  • Page Number: 5
    And some photo ops.
  • Page Number: 6
    Time to turn onto Main Street.
    A nice park area.
    Looking up Main Street.
  • Page Number: 7
    Walking up Main Street.
  • Page Number: 8
    Trash cans have to be bear proof in this part of the world.
    The brewing company was busy this afternoon.
  • Page Number: 9
  • Page Number: 10
    Where our gang ended up eating.. thinking it was the fudge sign or public restrooms that drew them in..
    It was just about the end of Main Street.
    Inside there was a front dining room that was full and this back room where we sat.
  • Page Number: 11
    There were beds available if you wanted to stay here vs the lodge.
    Back outside.. and continuing our tour of town.
  • Page Number: 12
  • Page Number: 13
    Finally I took a wide shot.. here is looking back down Main Street so you can see how far (or not far) we had ventured.
    We decided to go see the river since it was not far.
    More food options along the way.
  • Page Number: 14
    Well seems the recent snowstorm runoff wiped out the walkway and the only way out to the river was to go through the water or a log bridge
    To get across the log bridge there were some locals offering help (for a tip). I decided to avoid the bugs and chance of getting myself or gear wet (I was weighed down with my laptop and all since I had not gone to the lodge yet). So this was my view of the river.
  • Page Number: 15
    We walked down the street to the Ranger Station. This is where the hikers who will be climbing the mountain and hiking other trails check in.
    The climbing stats for this season which was wrapping up. They said there were 1500 permits issued in the lottery for Denali (McKinley).
  • Page Number: 16
    The weather forecast.
    Some great pictures of the mountain were on the walls.
  • Page Number: 17
    A wide picture of the main room.
  • Page Number: 18
    Inside a small room they played a video of the hiking experience so you can see what it is like on the mountain.
    Back outside and heading for the bus.
  • Page Number: 19
    The side of the ranger station.
    We walked back down a street that I did not catch the name of.
  • Page Number: 20
  • Page Number: 21
    Back on the bus around 3:20pm and on our way to the McKinley Lodge (about an hour away).
  • Page Number: 22
  • Page Number: 23
    A typical Alaska picture.. snow covered mountains, a lake, trees, and a plane.
    As we drove it looked like it was becoming more cloudy.
  • Page Number: 24
    Crossing the rail we had come up earlier.
    The road leading up to the lodge.
  • Page Number: 25
    Our destination.
  • Page Number: 26
    After disembarking and getting our room packets we set off to find our room. Ended up taking a shuttle since we had no idea where we were going.
    The rooms were in buildings that looked like this.
  • Page Number: 27
    A quick look around our room before heading out to see what the lodge had to offer.
  • Page Number: 28
    A sitting are as you enter the building.
    We were in building 20.
  • Page Number: 29
    We walked to the main building. It was only a couple minute walk.
    Someone said they had seen a moose go into this wooded area. I could not spot it.
  • Page Number: 30
    A closer look.
    Approaching one of the dining options.. the 20320 Alaskan Grill
  • Page Number: 31
    Temps were on the high side for Alaska. I was comfortable to walk around.
    The menus for those of you curious on pricing and options.
  • Page Number: 32
    A picture showing the view (I am not going to keep labeling the peaks)
  • Page Number: 33
    It was a little cloudy as we first looked out toward McKinley.
  • Page Number: 34
    Heading up toward the main building.
    A photo spot set up
  • Page Number: 35
  • Page Number: 36
    The gift shop was through the first door and lobby through the middle.
    The lobby.
  • Page Number: 37
    Looking up.
    The schedule for the day.
  • Page Number: 38
    There was free wifi in the lobby and an internet access area even if you needed a computer.
    A large fireplace in the middle of the main room.
    A large seating area with a lot of glass to look out toward the mountains.
  • Page Number: 39
    Thanks to the lighting, good pictures were tough to come by
  • Page Number: 40
    Outside there was a bird presentation going on.
  • Page Number: 41
    The clouds were breaking up a bit, but still most of the mountain was covered.
  • Page Number: 42
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    Another sign to identify the peaks.
  • Page Number: 44
  • Page Number: 45
    Hard to get it so you can see the sign and mountain..
    especially with trees in the way.
    Several trails around the lodge.
  • Page Number: 46
  • Page Number: 47
    Looking back at the main building and the large deck.
    The clouds have cleared a bit now. This was after dinner and approaching 7pm.
  • Page Number: 48
  • Page Number: 49
    A video clip panning the area.
    Looks like it was raining off in the distance.
  • Page Number: 50
    Another lounge area.
    The internet area.
  • Page Number: 51
  • Page Number: 52
    Notice the luggage carts, they were delivering bags. The small bus to the right is the internal shuttle to get around.
    Looking back at the patio area.
  • Page Number: 53
    The main lodge building.
  • Page Number: 54
    Coming up the trail a covered wagon.
  • Page Number: 55
    Back to the mountains.
  • Page Number: 56
  • Page Number: 57
    Inside the main building was a bar and another dining room. Thought this clock was interesting.
  • Page Number: 58
    A waiting area out front (mostly used as a smoking area)
  • Page Number: 59
    A camp fire where they do smores. It was about 8pm when we walked by.
    More of the buildings with regular rooms.
  • Page Number: 60
  • Page Number: 61
    A kids play area.
  • Page Number: 62
  • Page Number: 63
  • Page Number: 64
    We decided to take the trail through the woods to get to our building (in the distance) vs walking around.
    Our destination.. now just have to get there.
  • Page Number: 65
    The view out our window.
    It was just before 10pm when I took this and decided to call it a night after the 4:30am wake-up call I was tired and tomorrow was going to be another long day on buses.

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