More Alaska Adventures

As readers of this blog well know by now, we like to travel by road trips in the U.S. and, in recent years, to other countries. We consider ourselves fortunate in that we can physically and financially afford these adventures, knowing that there are many people, who for reasons of health, money, obligations or other reasons, are not able to do the same. We also know that our tolerable aches could restrict future travels. 

Mark Twain advised that, Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. That quote emphasized living life to the fullest thus avoiding future regret. We're following that advice.

A late August post shared highlights from our Anniversary Adventures in Alaska. It was wonderful to explore some of the 49th state with the motto, The Last Frontier. To explore all of Alaska would take a very long time since it's the largest U.S. by total land area. To give you more detail, it's over twice the size of the second largest state, Texas, and bigger than the three largest states of Texas, California, and Montana — put together. We only saw a very small part of the state.

Alaska's population of some 741,000 is low for its size, placing it as the third-least populous U.S. state., ahead of only Vermont (648,493) and Wyoming (587,618) as of 2024. While Alaska is the largest U.S. state by land area, it has a very low population density, with less than 1.5 people per square mile. By comparison, California is the most populous U.S. state. (nearly 40 million), then comes Texas (over 32 million) and Florida (23 million).

Our land-cruise trip included two days (hardly enough) touring Denali on an Alaskan sternwheeler, converted school bus through Denali National Park and in a domed railcar from Denali to Talkeetna also a tour bus. This post includes some highlights from those forms of travel and sights along the way.

Our land modes of transport: a sternwheeler, school bus, tour bus, domed rail car

The day after our arrival in Fairbanks, we traveled by tour bus to Steamboat Landing where we boarded the Sternwheeler Discovery III. A sternwheeler is a type of paddle steamer propelled by a single, large paddle wheel at the vessel's rear (stern). These ships navigate rivers in shallow waters. The Discovery III traveled on the Chena and Tanana Rivers during a narrated 3+ hour tour. 

Steamboat Landing and the Discovery III sternwheeler

The tour boat company is a family-run business started in 1950 by Jim and Mary Binkley who began a river cruise business with Godspeed, a 50-foot gas-powered boat that held 25 passengers. They later upgraded to the Discovery sternwheeler which held 49. In 1986, the Binkley family expanded the fleet band by commissioning the 260-ton, 156-foot Discovery III which has a capacity of 900 passengers. Binkley grandchildren now operate the family business.

A bush pilot demonstrated takeoff viewed from the sternwheeler

After boarding and starting the river cruise, we saw one of Alaska's bush pilots taking flight on the Chena River. Monitors set up on the boat allowed the pilot to communicate with the passengers visually. There was a demonstration of the pilot taking off, landing further down on the river and then flying back.

Traditional methods of salmon preservation

Continuing along the river, the riverboat paused near a riverside fish camp for a demonstration of how Alaska natives traditionally prepare salmon for smoking and drying. Once again, monitors provided a closer look at the procedure which involved cleaning the fish and then hanging it to cure in a drying shed.

Dog sledding demo at Trail Breaker Kennels

The next site viewed from the boat was Trail Breaker Kennels, founded by the late four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher. It's now operated by her daughters, Tekla and Chisana Butcher-Monson. Both women are involved in the family legacy of dog mushing. David Monson, their father, is a Yukon Quest sled dog race champion. 

The sled dogs were harnessed to an ATV as, of course, there was no snow for a sled demo. The ATV was pulled it in a circle around the kennel, afterwards, the dogs were treated to a dip in the river.

Trapper's Line Cabin was a shelter used by Athabascan trappers for overnight stays

The only stop on the sternwheeler tour to disembark was an hour visit to Chena Village Living Museum where passengers were split into several groups. Native Alaskan guides presented highlights of a native Athabascan village and spoke about the culture. The Athabascan people are known for their nomadic lifestyle which includes hunting and fishing along major river systems.

This cabin was a more permanent residence as shown by its furnishings

This outdoor museum is an educational attraction which is only accessible as a stop on the Discovery riverboat tour. It provides a look into the traditional lifestyle of the Athabascan people, who lived in the region historically. 

A cache built higher to protect food from wildlife displayed the furs of trapped wildlife

The village includes cabins and caches (buildings on stilts used for food storage) and fish camps, which according to the guides, showed methods of living and survival. Families would historically move to fish camps during the summer and use outdoor drying racks to prepare salmon for preservation in smokehouses.

Clothing made of fur, hide and beads was elaborate

Several of the guides modeled clothing made of hide and furs, and decorated with beadwork. They explained how the Athabaskan people thrived for over 10,000 years in harsh climates necessitating the warm outerwear.

Sled dogs enjoyed the attention from tour group members

The final village stop was a demonstration of sled dogs from a handler and sled dogs from Trail Breaker Kennel. The dogs were quite friendly and very eager to interact with many passengers as shown in the above photos. This was the final attraction as we boarded the steamboat for the return trip to Steamboat Landing where our tour group boarded the bus for a return to the hotel.

Scenes fromDenali National Park 

Early the next day, we boarded the tour bus and headed to Denali National Park. Its vast size doesn't come close to Alaska's total land area and at 6 million acres, the park only represents 1 percent of Alaska's total land mass of over 665,000 square miles. For a size comparison, Denali is slightly larger than West Virginia.

Once again, we traveled on a bus — this time a school bus as these are the only vehicles used on tours in Denali National Park due to their durability in being able to travel on the park's unpaved gravel road. The school buses are also more economical to operate compared to large tour buses. 

Brian, our Denali Park tour guide, inside the school bus, grizzly and elk 

All wildlife viewing was done from the bus and we did see wildlife in the form of elk, grizzly bears (at least 3), moose, caribou and Dall sheep so high on the mountains they were called little white dots by the tour guide, who was also the bus driver. We learned that all the wildlife we viewed were native to Alaska, except, elk as the last the last native populations, from the Ice Age (Pleistocene era), died out thousands of years ago. The elk in Alaska today are Roosevelt elk reintroduced from the Pacific Northwest in the 20th century.

The above photos show the diversity of the landscape in Denali.

There was only one stop in Denali and everyone took this opportunity for some photos. The top photo ↑ shows all the members of our tour group. The bottom photo shows the most of our tour group from the NH Hudson Senior Center; there were 16 total, but not everyone made the photo opp.

Travel friends, Jan and Bob, who we traveled with 2 years ago on a UK adventure

After the sternwheeler cruise and Denali National Park Tundra Wilderness Tour, we stayed overnight at the Denali Lodge, a wilderness lodge and resort, before the next part of our land adventure.

Front and lobby views of Denali Wilderness Lodge

Holland America owns the Denali Lodge and the McKinley Explorer®, a glass-domed train which was our next mode of transport from Denali to Talkeetna.

Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, both owned by parent company Carnival Cruises, operate the largest fleet of dome railcars in Alaska. Most passengers who travel on these railcars are part of cruise line group tours. This private 2-level, glass-domed railcar travels hundreds of miles into Alaska's interior and seats 86 to 88 passengers in the upper level dome. 

The large curved glass dome windows run the full length of the car and gave great 360 degree views. The car had a host guide who provided a narrated commentary and answered questions along the route. The trip from Denali to Talkeetna, our next stop, was 5 hours on an overcast and rainy day. 

Our stay in Talkeetna, Alaska, was very brief, just enough time to walk from the train to the downtown area. is known for being a gateway to Denali. The town is known for its quirky history, including having a cat mayor named Stubbs from 1997 until his death in 2017.

The buildings in downtown Talkeetna were very unique

After an overnight stay in the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, we boarded the tour bus to Anchorage for a brief stop before continuing to the port of Whittier where we boarded the Holland America Noordam.

Holland America Noordam in the port of Whittier, AK

The next part of our trip was on this vessel for a 7-day cruise through Glacier Bay and several port stops. These adventures will continue in future posts. 

Thanks to those who traveled with us through this post. 

We appreciate that you took time to come long..