Jim Colyer

Click on Mt. McKinley for pictures.

I flew to Minneapolis on September 8, 2006, changed planes and flew on to Anchorage, Alaska. I flew Northwest Airlines using Expedia.com. Roundtrip was $731.80. From Ted Stevens Airport, I took the city bus downtown. The Hilton Hotel served as a landmark. I walked to the Alaska Railroad depot on 1st Street. It was late evening, and the train to Denali National Park did not leave until morning. I pulled an all-nighter. I entered a karaoke bar called the Woodshed and sang Elvis, Beatles, ABBA and Shania. I sat in the Marriot for a couple of hours and dozed. The train depot opened at 5 AM, and I bought my ticket to Denali. My instincts told me to beeline to the park. I wanted an experience in Alaska. I had to keep moving.

The train ride north was scenic. The shallow rivers and streams are glacier water. They flowed on both sides of the train. Despite its beauty, there is a stark sameness in the terrain. Birch and spruce trees dominated. Leaves on the birch were yellow as they showed their fall color. Spruce grew in miniature in the permafrost. The whole landscape was yellow and green. The abundance of water makes Alaska a fisherman's paradise. I met a couple from Minnesota who had come to hunt caribou. An employee on the train told me there were no snakes in Alaska. It was seven hours to Denali.

National Parks are operated by the National Park Service which is in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Denali Park was established in 1917. I got a room at the River Cabins for $127.33 a night. A native girl told me the legend of the northern lights, that whistling brings them out. I wanted my trip centered around astronomy.

Mount McKinley is in Denali. It is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. There is controversy over the mountain's name. The federal government calls it Mount McKinley after President William McKinley. The state of Alaska wants it called Denali (High One). A 90 mile road runs through the park. I went through on September 10.

I got lucky on the tour. I sat at the front of the bus and enjoyed a good view. Mount McKinley is visible only 20% of the time. It is usually clouded over. It is covered with snow and 30 miles away when we see it. McKinley has two peaks. The north peak is sharp. The south peak is rounded. The south peak is higher and the true summit. McKinley is a big piece of granite. Molten material solidified underground and pushed upward over millions of years.

We drove 63 of the 90 miles, more than usual because it was a nice day. We saw wildlife: grizzly bear, moose, caribou, wolves and Dall sheep. Dall sheep are named after explorer William Dall. We got to the mountain, and there was a grizzly in the ravine. It kept us close to the bus. We ate caribou for lunch.

At the River Cabins, I kept going outside to look for the northern lights. The moon was a factor. It was full the night before I left. I never gave it a thought when planning my trip, a strange oversight since I am so aware of the moon during the Perseid meteor shower. Not seeing the lights was a disappointment even if the rest of the trip compensated. I decided not to go on to Fairbanks because even there the moon would be overpowering. The lights are seen 240 nights a year from Fairbanks. Forget May, June, July and August because the sun stays up during the summer. One guy described the lights as buckets of paint poured across the sky. The red, blue and green waves are caused by the solar wind hitting gases at the top of our atmosphere. The earth is a magnet, and it pulls solar particles toward the north and south poles. I observed the sky. The north star was high, and the Orion was farther south. I understood why the north star and the Big Dipper are on the state flag.

Danali gets only 4 1/2 hours sunlight on December 21. Nor is it quality light. The temperature drops to -60. Cold, dark and snow! Denali is not a town. It consists of a few lodges and shops. It gets its mail at the park post office. The tourist season was winding down as I left. People were heading south.

People in Alaska are friendly. They look you in the eye. Maybe it was me. I talked to an Australian from Melbourne, and we mentioned ABBA. There was downtime, then things would happen quickly. Waiting to eat at the River Cabins restaurant, I met a cameraman from L.A. who had been working on a movie. The morning of September 11, I explored the Gulch, a string of souvenir shops. I used the Internet at the Black Bear Coffee Shop. It was raining, and I was glad to have toured the park the previous day.

I returned to Anchorage with Yukon Trails, a van service. I faced a second night in Anchorage. I remembered the hostel next to the Marriot and got a $20 bed.

My last day in Alaska was spent in the heart of Anchorage. I went to the Visitors Center and to the 5th Avenue Mall, a modern mall with shops and a food court. I toured the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. I knew about the purchase of Alaska from Russia and the lure of gold which gave rise to Alaskan towns. I knew that towns like Nome came from the gold rush of 1898. Anchorage began as a tent city when the Alaska Railroad was built. Current population is 270,000. I walked to the Captain James Cook statue at the Cook Inlet. This Inlet connects to the Gulf of Alaska. Captain Cook navigated the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. A lecture was being given. The man noted that Anchorage is a railroad town, not a river town. Its streets were designed by engineers. They are at right angles, numbers and and numbers. I realized that Nashville is a river town with its meandering streets. I got pictures of the Eisenhower Statehood Memorial, then headed for the airport. The Chugach Mountains loomed in the distance. I slept on the return flights and got back to Nashville, September 14. Six days. Alaska is big. You carve out your niche and move on.