Day 7 Train to Fairbanks


For the first time in three days we didn’t have to get up at five or five thirty!  Yeah!  Wouldn’t be so bad but we are staying up until 11 which makes it rough.

Horseshoe Lake

I need to say one word about the weather if you are ever planning to come to Alaska.  I don’t believe anyone is able to accurately predict the weather here as it is never what was predicted.  Anchorage is experiencing their coldest July ever and we have worn fleece and jackets every day.  Of course we dress in layers hoping for that warm snap but it hasn’t happened yet.  There has been some rain every day but it has been more of a nuisance rain and hasn’t really curtailed anything important.


Today we are taking the train up to Fairbanks and it doesn’t leave until almost 4 pm, so we took a short hike out to Horseshoe Lake. It was supposed to be a moderate difficulty, but the part back up hill from the lake was pretty steep, at least for us old people.  Total hike took about 1½ hours and it was fun.  The sun was out at the lake so we could get some good pictures.

Train along Nenana River near Denali

We met Steve and Megan for lunch, who had done fly-fishing for their activity in the morning.  I think the fishing went well, but the best part was that they got to see Mt. McKinley.  In fact, we heard later that they also saw the mountain from a closer viewpoint when the bus that they took back to Anchorage stopped to let them take pictures.  They are headed to Jackson Hole tonight.


We spent the rest of our time in the Visitor Center listening to ranger talks and watching the movie before boarding the train.  The first hour of the ride was interesting as we went through the Nenana River gorge which is very scenic.  After that, the ride is just miles after miles of birch and white spruce trees until you get to Fairbanks.  The total time to Fairbanks is four hours by train.