Leaving Vancouver on our Alaskan adventure;
Our ship north – a relatively small cruise liner.
Float-planes, queuing up to dock, standard transport in Alaska. One in 7 Alaskans have a pilots license.
We transferred from the cruise ship to Anchorage by train. This line runs from Seward in the south to Fairbanks in the middle of the state. In Alaska it’s still possible to flag down a train from the side of the tracks and they are required to stop to let you on…
Passing one of the many glaciers on the way;
Hopper shuttle to King Salmon on our way to Katmai National Park.
And then on to a Float-plane for the last part of the journey.
Captain Allen takes the right hand seat to help out. “Emergency exits are located at the front and the rear of the cabin, Lifejackets are under your seat…” etc.
The return plane was even smaller;
The float plane taxis line up and are the only way into and from the park.
Not sure about the quality of the rental cars but we didn’t want to stand out as tourists
On our flight from Fairbanks to Coldfoot co-pilot Casey takes the controls;
Now what do all these buttons do?
Didn’t take her long to get the hang of things;
Co-pilot Casey and our pilot celebrate a successful landing;
Returning to Fairbanks the landing was a little on the frisky side (I think Jakki was driving);
In Denali National Park you can only go beyond the first 15 miles in a bus. They provide these luxury coaches (ex-school buses) to tour the 92 miles into the park. The park is 6 million square miles in total so pretty uninhabited but more Denali later
Also available in white;
Peering out of the early morning mist, our ship for the return cruise to Vancouver
Transport in Alaska is a little different from most other states. Some of the rides a little more white knuckled than the rest!
.
No comments:
Post a Comment