Alaska, The Great Land Into the Wild - My great Alaskan Railroad Adventure
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5:30 AM aboard the AK RR goldstar service - 1st class from Anchorage to Seward. Off we go - you can see the RR station behind my dad (below). The train
ride down to Seward was nice. Maybe only a dozen people in the entire goldstar car. The seats were plush and comfortable. First class offers free
non-alcoholic beverages and the barman was personable and attentive (I guess that's easy when you've only got 12 or so people to wait on). In the Goldstar
cars we get the glass domed cabin and a private outside viewing platform. People spread out and we flipped the seats in front of us around so as to have
more room.
The dining car offers views of Mountains shrouded in fog and clouds. It's very
hazy – you can barely see the mountain range through the smoky haze - there
are wild fires burning to the south which creates the haze
Lush boreal forests fill the landscape all the way up to the rocky peaks. Wet
marshland, mudflats, craggy rocky cliffs, rivers waterfalls - nature wherever you
look
Above - We spy several Dall sheep up in the cliffs. Below - Saw a couple Bull Moose, a mother and her calf. (I have much better pix of moose later on)
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Above - We also come across a bald eagle guarding her chicks in the nest. Below - Spencer Glacier flows slowly between two mountain and the silty river feeds off the melting glacier. - (Also there are much better glacier pix later as well)
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