A little history about Denali: The Athabascan Indians named it Denali which means "the High One". In 1869 a prospector, William Dickey, named the mountain for presidential nominee William McKinley of Ohio, although McKinley had no connection with Alaska. Protests that the mountain be returned to its original name began almost at once. In 1980 the Alaska Board of Geological Names changed the mountain's name back to Denali. However, the U.S. Board of Geological Names still lists it as McKinley which is a great aggravation to Alaskans.
We all rode the Alaska Railroad from Talkeenta to Hurricane Gulch/Canyon. It was a six hour ride and most of it was "wilderness" so not to much to see but trees. The Canyon, of course, was breathtaking but we spent a very short time there. This train picks hikers, fishermen, campers, and residents (which there are very few of) along the way. All they have to do is wave the train down, therefore, the length of the trip. One interesting stop was at Sherman which is one house. A couple from St. Louis drove up here in the 60 pulling a 40 ft. trailer and homesteaded a plot of land. They are still living there today. They had 4 kids and have written books about their experience. The train makes a stop there for people to get off and buy books. The couple are there at a little shack which has a sign that says "depot" and they talk to people and sign their books. We didn't have any cash with us so didn't buy any of them. But several of our group did. We also stopped at a stream and could see salmon swimming up stream. They are very red when they are ready to spawn so I hope you can see them in the picture.
It was sunny most of the day, actually the nicest day we have had at Talkeetna but Denali is still covered with clouds and not visible from here. The only ones who have seen it are the three who flew. It will be a disappointment if we do not get to see it.
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