I travelled by train from Anchorage to Denali, where I stayed a few days, then on to Fairbanks. The train is actually three trains in one: the front carriages are owned and run by the Alaska Railroad, and two other companies pay to have their carriages attached to the back. I had tickets for the Princess Tours observation coach right at the back, which combined an observation deck with a viewing platform. Coupled with the restaurant below, it made for a very pleasant trip. The Princess coaches cost about $1million each and were very new in 1993 when I travelled. They're the largest passenger-carrying rail coaches ever made. (Actually, not only were they new, but from Denali to Fairbanks they were Seriously Broken, too, and we travelled without heat, light or food). It takes about 8 hours to get from Anchorage to Denali, and 5 to get from Denali to Fairbanks.
There are a lot of straight bits of track along this route, all of them apparently photogenic at the time: I've a large collection of photos called "Another Straight Bit Of Track". The trip is slow, scenic and the food is reasonable. Culinary Hint: If you decide to eat the caribou stew, make sure no-one tells you about the caribou's infestation problem: the reason they spend all their time with their noses in the grass is that there's a big fly that likes living in moist, dark places. This fly gets up the nose and lays its eggs, then the maggots burrow into the flesh. It drives the animal batty. What's this got to with caribou stew? Well, the flies do the other end, too.
Between Denali and Fairbanks the landscape becomes taiga and then tundra. Beaver are very active and dam the streams, so there are lakes along much of the rail route.
At the heart of Denali National Park is a little patch of non-National Park land that used to be a gold mine. This is where the deepest lodge is. The bus ride takes about 8 hours, and passes through some stunning scenery. Private vehicles are only allowed in the first 15 miles and after that it's either the buses owned by the two lodges there or the Park's public service. Perhaps the most spectacular view is at Eileson (wait, I have to check this name) across a large, totally flat wash plain with the 50-km grass-covered Muldrow Glacier leading away to the mountains in the distance. Mount Denali (7.5kB) itself is usually hidden in clouds, but when we were there we got to see it every day. Although Everest is the tallest, Denali is actually higher from its base to the summit. In fact, the twin peaks of Denali make it the highest and second-highest mountain in North America.
Unfortunately, the lodge I stayed at, the Denali Backcountry Lodge (62kB), is at the bottom of a narrow valley and covered in mosquitos. Head nets were provided and the food was good, but the room rates were extreme. I did some biking in the park and some tundra hiking; wildlife included bear, moose, foxes and one eagle.
It sounds odd, but perhaps the bus ride in and out was better than the stay itself: you get to see much more and don't get bitten by everything in sight.
While we were there a TV crew arrived to make a video promoting the park. Oddly, the park ranger refused permission to film at the campground so they ended up at the lodge. It was Midsummer's Day, so while in reality everyone else had gone to bed by about 10pm, we got to dummy up a campfire sing-song for that "authentic" touch. The director was pleased to find two Brits out there (us), and professed great love for Courage beer. Maybe the altitude clouded his judgement.
Point Barrow is the most northerly point in the USA, and is home to a radar installation. It's also got the USA's most northerly totem pole (8.5kB), complete with toilet and gear shift on the top.
Barrow itself is a few miles down the road. It's a pretty dirty place since nothing biodegrades. The wind plows onshore much of the time, and the gravel is bulldozed back out into the Arctic Ocean, past the last stop sign (11kB) in America. There's a good Mexican restaurant there called Pepe's and a motel. The restaurant, water delivery service and waste removal service are all owned by the same person. Barrow is officially dry, which I guess is why the place is strewn with empty beer cans...
We flew up to Barrow from Fairbanks via Prudhoe on MarkAir (1993). At the airport we were taken by bus to the motel, and lent coats for the time we were there. The bus tour was in general very interesting: our driver was one of the schoolteachers, and he had some very astute observations about how the place is run.
Would I do Barrow again? Nope!
Everything was organised for us by Destinations in Denali, who managed to piece together a good itinery at short notice.