Denali to Talkeetna to Whittier post 8 of 16
June 27, 2018
Fresh from the Denali romance, my attention turned to the story lines of the people and the place, not the first nation people but now the homesteaders, the bush dwellers, the White Fang crowd and their successors. I have to admit, I read Jack London at a very young age, and actually wrote a fiction work based on that book, when I was in the sixth grade.
Hearing the tales of the settlers, and such hearing things such as "When a car is stopped on the road, you stop to help them. You never know what's in the woods....". I also learned, later in life, that the Iditarod mushers all carry. There is a strong independent, self-reliant, I'll-fix-it-myself mentality among the year-round residents. We learned that there are a lot of "dry" cabins inhabited year-round. Think about that, not having running water...
So I was happy to see this relic moored on the grounds of the Mt. McKinley lodge:
Cliff Hudson was a renowned bush pilot, one of the later pioneers, who saved lives and made life a little easier for a lot of people. These planes were a primary mode of travel, along with boats and snow machines, after the dogsleds faded with the advent of the technologies. This plane stands as a monument to that era, which still exists today.
It is easy to see the entrance/egress with the strut and the footpeg. This plane holds four, and gear.
The next leg of our journey involved heading off, by rail, to board the cruise ship. First we had to bus it to the Talkeetna train station. That's it, below. Yep. Train station:
Note the sunshine (!)... and also the lady just about dead center, in the vest, between the rope line and the tracks. She came out to yell at me about being on the wrong side of the tracks. I said, "Lady, you have no idea..." but not so loudly that she could hear...
Oh, wait! There we are now! Note the shades... won't be needin' those for long...
About a half hour into the train ride, we saw these intrepid kite boarders. Note the sky and weather conditions. Bet they loved their wetsuits!!!
Then, on to Whittier to board the boat. This was first moments in our cabin; that's my camera bag on the right. That's also the last moment the TV was on, for the rest of the trip:
Fresh from the Denali romance, my attention turned to the story lines of the people and the place, not the first nation people but now the homesteaders, the bush dwellers, the White Fang crowd and their successors. I have to admit, I read Jack London at a very young age, and actually wrote a fiction work based on that book, when I was in the sixth grade.
Hearing the tales of the settlers, and such hearing things such as "When a car is stopped on the road, you stop to help them. You never know what's in the woods....". I also learned, later in life, that the Iditarod mushers all carry. There is a strong independent, self-reliant, I'll-fix-it-myself mentality among the year-round residents. We learned that there are a lot of "dry" cabins inhabited year-round. Think about that, not having running water...
So I was happy to see this relic moored on the grounds of the Mt. McKinley lodge:
Cliff Hudson was a renowned bush pilot, one of the later pioneers, who saved lives and made life a little easier for a lot of people. These planes were a primary mode of travel, along with boats and snow machines, after the dogsleds faded with the advent of the technologies. This plane stands as a monument to that era, which still exists today.
His plane is outfitted for snow, and the tail is supported by a wheel. These planes are readily transformed to seaplanes by swapping out to pontoons.
It is easy to see the entrance/egress with the strut and the footpeg. This plane holds four, and gear.
The next leg of our journey involved heading off, by rail, to board the cruise ship. First we had to bus it to the Talkeetna train station. That's it, below. Yep. Train station:
Note the sunshine (!)... and also the lady just about dead center, in the vest, between the rope line and the tracks. She came out to yell at me about being on the wrong side of the tracks. I said, "Lady, you have no idea..." but not so loudly that she could hear...
Oh, wait! There we are now! Note the shades... won't be needin' those for long...
About a half hour into the train ride, we saw these intrepid kite boarders. Note the sky and weather conditions. Bet they loved their wetsuits!!!
Then, on to Whittier to board the boat. This was first moments in our cabin; that's my camera bag on the right. That's also the last moment the TV was on, for the rest of the trip:
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