Adventure - Grandview Tour on the Alaska Railroad.

Glacier View from the Grandview Tour

Stats

Difficulty: Easy                                                                                                   Time:  Half-day

Summary

Carol's parents visited us in Alaska in June.  Her father can't really walk much anymore so we went looking for cool activities that don't require much walking.  Not surprisingly, there aren't that many in Alaska, but we found a winner in the Grandview Tour on the Alaska Railroad.  The Grandview Tour is pure sightseeing into area of Alaska that cannot be reached in any way other than by train.

Opinion

This is a fun trip, even for those who have no trouble
hiking, biking, etc.  The rail line cuts through some beautiful scenery and you don't have to work to see it!

Advice

Start the tour at the Portage whistle stop.  If you start anywhere else the trip takes far longer and is mostly through areas that can be seen in other ways.  As an example, if you leave from Girdwood instead of Portage (the stops are less than 30 minutes apart) you add more than 3 hours to the round trip.

Suitability

This tour is suitable for all ages and most fitness levels.  You do need to climb stair to get onto the train and up to the viewing level.

Tour Access

Buy your tickets through the Alaska Railroad.  The Portage whistle stop is located on the side of Seward Hwy just north of the Portage  turnoff.  It is the stretch of rail next to the red building labeled Kenai Peninsula Visitor Center.

The Adventure

We arrived at the whistle stop 30 minutes early (much too early) and there were already a lot of other people there.  Our tickets gave us an assigned table on the upper deck, so there was no need to rush for good seats.  Most of the people there were actually going to the  Spencer Glacier stop.  Some were going on the USFS guided tour to the glacier and others were going on a rafting trip.

Just before the train arrived a bus load of Russian speaking tourists arrived.  They were going with us on the Grandview tour.  When the train arrived, the conductors started to call out names of people with reserved tickets.  The Russian tourist's tour guide moved up to talk to one of the conductors so he could arrange for his whole party.  Unfortunately for us, he forgot to tell his tour group and, since they didn't speak english and didn't know what was going on, they all crowded the entrance and all tried to get on.  It took several minutes to resolve the issue and get boarding to proceed smoothly.

We boarded and went up to our table on the top level of one of the railroad's two level viewing cars.  The table was a decent size for four and had a great view out both sides of the train.  it turns out we got lucky and were seated near the stairs where the trip narrator stood to tell us what we were seeing out the window.

The first leg of the trip runs through the marshes of Turnagain Arm.  It parallels Seward Hwy, but gives views at an angle you can't get from the road.  The narrator told us you could often see moose in the area and eagles nesting in the trees right next to the railroad.  When we were there neither was present, but we did see the eagles' nests.

At this point we were hungry, since we hadn't gotten lunch before we left (we hiked the Winner Creek Trail instead), so Chris went down to the food counter and bought us lunch.  The food was decent, but not amazing, and the counter was well stocked with snacks and drinks.  There was also a restroom on the lower level.

Spencer Glacier whistle stop

From Turnagain Arm we headed into the Chugach Mountains.  The train stopped at the Spencer Glacier whistle stop to let the USFS Ranger led tour and the rafters off.  Spencer Glacier can only be reached by rail.  There is no road.

Once they were off, the train moved on further into the mountains.  We got beautiful views of Spencer Glacier.  The glacier lake is packed with ice calved off the glacier.  One look and we decided we would definitely be going there ourselves.  A quick view was all we got, however, as the Russian tourists all piled out of their seats and crowded the stairwells to take photos which blocked our view completely; maybe our table wasn't as well situated as I thought...  We asked the narrator is the train was normally like this and she said it was very rare for it to be that full.

The train proceeded deep into the mountains through three tunnels high over glacier valleys.  We saw waterfalls, beaver, glaciers, and a great deal of amazing scenery.  After an hour or so the tourists settle down and we got our full view back.  My only disappointment up to this point was that the windows, though large and very good for viewing, were tinted and no conducive to photography.  

We stopped at the Grandview whistle stop to let people off if they wanted to, and the train went of for another 15 minutes or so, then reversed direction and headed back.  This time, when we stopped at Grandview we were given 20 minutes to get out and walk.

Bonsai spruce

The Grandview whiste stop is beautiful.  The scenery is great and they have built beautiful covered shelters at the stop for people to wait.  They have also put in a nice trail that you can walk comfortably during the 20-minute stop.   The trail switches back to take you to a viewing platform overlooking the stop.  The walk is lovely past swampy areas, wildflowers, and through a bonsai spruce forest.  The spruce forest was my favorite; it made me feel like I was in a Japanese garden.  The narrator told us the railroad is planning to add more stops after Grandview and connect them all with hiking trails.  I hope they do.  It would be great.

Eventually they blew the whistle to call us back and we all boarded again.  This is the point when I discover the solution to the windows.   There is an area between the two passenger cars, where one links to the other, that has to windows without glass.  I spent much of my time down there taking pictures on the return trip.  There were about 4 of us who took turns leaning out and taking pictures.  So, I got to take all the pictures I missed on the way out.

Old railroad bridge

The way back was, obviously, the reverse of the way in.  We stopped at Spencer Glacier to pick up the glacier tour group.  Then we stopped again in the Turnagain Arm to pick up the rafters.  This is not a regular stop, but a special one just for that tour group.  Unfortunately, on this day the group was running very late.  They were supposed to be at the stop with the rafts deflated and ready to load.  Instead we spent about 20 minutes waiting for all 5 boat loads to arrive and get on.  From there it was a short ride back to the Portage whistle stop.

This was a good tour for anyone and a great trip for those with limited mobility.  The narration was excellent and the sights we fabulous.  Our only complaints were with other passengers; we were very pleased with the service and courtesy of the railroad staff.

Note:  you might notice that there are no pictures of the train.  We took several, but Chris was worried about publication issues so he contacted the railroad to find out if we could use them in this blog or sell them as part of our photography business.  They said we sell the pictures if we paid the railroad $300.  Since we are still breaking into the photography business and this blog brings in pennies at best, we chose not to include any pictures of their trains.