A base for expeditions to Denali ; the small town of Talkeetna with less than 2000 people is a two and a half hour drive from Anchorage . Its residents are proud of the character of their community and their mountaineering history as the base camp for mountaineering expeditions to Denali and also their characteristic artwork and unique traditions.
Talkeetna started off in 1916 as the district headquarters of the Alaskan Railroad .Today, the locals are proud of their typical architecture and rich wildlife. It is a popular destination for locals and visitors, offering many activities such as flightseeing, rafting, and biking.
Popular activities in Talkeetna are:
- Flightseeing tours to Mt. Denali.
- Stroll Main Street taking in the history and enjoying the ambience.
- Jetboat rides, rafting, kayaking
- Fishing.
- Hiking
- Enjoying the local food and drink.
Located at the confluence of three rivers, Susitna, Chulkitna and Talkeetna, the downtown area is a designated National Historic Site with buildings dating back to the early 1900s.
Talkeetna Historic District
Much of the downtown area looks very ancient and comes alive only in summer when tourists reach Talkeetna for flightseeing tours over Denali, salmon fishing and rafting expeditions. Much of this shuts down in mid September when winter sets in and after that, it’s only the amount of snow that changes year to year.
Winter in Talkeetna
We were in for a flightseeing tour of Denali and that’s what took us to Talkeetna. Taking the Denali Star train from Anchorage early morning, we reached Talkeetna before noon. The weather was less than favourable and we were hoping that we would take off over Denali that evening.
The Denali Star that took us to Talkeetna.
One of the first sights as we left Anchorage was the Knik arm of the Cook inlet and the Eagle River.
Eagle River.
The glacial silt along the Eagle river banks and the Knik arm are favourite places for moose and the train conductor asked us to keep a look out for them. She actually spotted a couple of them.
A moose along the banks of Eagle River
Some beautiful vegetation was also there for us to enjoy …
Typical Alaskan vegetation.
Evidence of forest fires and lightning strikes on vegetation were also seen…
Tree stumps
Soon we were at the town of Wasilla and the train made a short halt there.
Wasilla station.
As the train was getting closer to Talkeetna, it was getting obvious that the chances of our flightseeing getting cancelled was very high. The sky was overcast and it kept raining off and on. So we were a little disappointed but kept our fingers crossed.
Nancy lake was another pretty little lake that was crossed …
Nancy Lake
Passing by the Susitna river, we were finally at Talkeetna station . It was raining and cold and we waited for our hotel to pick us up .
Talkeetna station
After being picked up from the station, we reached our hotel, Talkeetna Inn. A real old world kind of place, there was something cute about the place.
Talkeetna Inn
As we waited patiently, we were informed by our tour company that our trip to Denali was cancelled and we can try in the evening if weather improves. That left us totally disappointed . Once the rain stopped, we took a walk around downtown Talkeetna…simply because we had nothing else to do!!!
A short walk from the hotel and we were on the banks of the swollen Talkeetna River. It was only then that the real impact of the weather was clear to us. The town had been flooded since the last two days and the water had just started receeding leaving a lot of silt all along the road..
The swollen Talkeetna River
By then, the sun was trying to come out and more people started venturing around. An occassional helicopter was seen hovering over town giving us hope that we may have our flightseeing after all !! But luck didn’t seem to favour us at all that day. The Denali trips scheduled late evening took off but the cancelled afternoon session was not rescheduled.
Walking along downtown Talkeetna, we saw some really dated houses and buildings. Some pictures…
Ranger Station
The ranger station at Talkeetna serves as center of mountaineering operations at Denali National Park. Climbing permits are issued here and all climbers are given an orientation before they go on their expedition.
The Ranger Station
Nagley’s Store
This century old general store in downtown Talkeetna is more like an iconic image of the town. Most people visit it for the historic significance and because there is practically no such store anywhere else in downtown…
The century old Nagley’s store
Talkeetna town has old shops on either side of the road selling local art work and the rest are all bars , restaurants and pubs..
Typical display of wildlife exhibits
Typical Talkeetna street scene
Walking around, we spotted this wooden moose that looked like material for a picture….
The wooden moose!!
Few shops selling local Alaskan products attracted us…
Local Alaskan products
By now the rain had almost stopped and we could see the flightseeing aircraft taking off. But the cancelled afternoon trip did not take off!!
Flightseeing tours
So we spent some time at downtown and returned to the hotel hoping and praying for better weather the next day.
Alaskan husky tours are another popular sport here…you can sit on a sled drawn by huskies…
Sled dog tours
As the night fell, the sounds from the bars and restaurants got louder and we slowly made our way back to the comfort of our hotel room.
Hoping for better luck next day on the flightseeing side, we rested for the night.
A Northern Lights attempt
We made an attempt at around 2 am looking for the Northern lights that night. The aurora predictions were good that night and Talkeetna being a small town, the loom of the city lights would not be there and we were at the Northern most part of our Alaskan journey. So, this was our best chance of seeing the Northern lights. But unfortunately , could not see them.
So this was a roundup of this little town of Talkeetna . Hope you enjoyed the typical native look of the place. I leave you this week with a question…Do you think we did the flightseeing at Denali the next day?
Wait for the answer next week….
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