Travel

Alaska | Glacier Discovery Train.

Sunday, August 27 was our last full day in Alaska. We spent almost all of it aboard the Glacier Discovery Train, traveling from Anchorage to Whittier, back through Portage to Grandview and then back to Anchorage. We’d traveled some of these same tracks on Thursday (Seward to Anchorage), but on Sunday, we saw the landscape from the other direction and at a different time of day. It all seemed new! You can see from the map above that we had lots of mountain views. and it was all spectacular. I took nearly 100 photos that day, second only, I think to the whale watching day in Juneau. But unlike that day, these photos weren’t just a lot of dark water where whales “were”. I did manage to edit the pile some, but there are still a lot … and there’s a beautiful sunset if you can make it to the end!

This is the first day that I haven’t edited a single photo. I’m sure it helped that we had great weather. and after a couple days of practice, I had a much easier time taking photos through the train window. So All Aboard – let’s go!

Beautiful blue skies in Anchorage as we set out.

The train made multiple stops on the way to Whittier, but we didn’t get out until then.

 We had a nice long layover there; perfect for a little exploring.

 The town is tiny, but the views … wow!

Back on the train, we headed for Grandview, with a “whistle stop” at Spencer along the way. Steve and Lydia got off to hike to Spencer Glacier, but the rest of us stayed on the train.

The views at Grandview were indeed Grand! We had a long stop there and everyone got off. These next few photos were not taken through a train window!

sometimes the random strangers who take our pictures don’t know how to use an iPhone 😂

Now we’re headed back to Spencer.

Thankfully, Steve and Lydia were waiting for us when we stopped back at Spencer.

Much of the ride back to Anchorage was along the water. I didn’t see many sunsets on this trip, so I was doubly glad that the last one was amazing.

Once back in Anchorage, we enjoyed a late dinner (pizza again!) and then headed to bed.

I have one more travelogue entry planned for next week. I had no idea when I started these weekly posts that it would be nearly Christmas before I finished! Thank you for traveling along with me these past few months.

Happy Friday everyone – hope y’all have a wonderful weekend!

11 thoughts on “Alaska | Glacier Discovery Train.”

  1. Oh, Mary! What stunning views — and terrific photos. Thank you, again, for taking the time to put together these travelogue posts. It is such a wonderful treat to read about and "see" your trip. XO

  2. These are really terrific, grand views! I can hardly imagine what it must be like to live there and wake up to that scenery every day; it sure would make it harder than usual to go to work. Thanks for taking us along with you!

  7. Thank you for sharing so many excellent pictures of your trip! The views are amazing, just one after the other! The sunset was really spectacular. I was surprised to see fireweed blooming in the Grandview photos. We have them all over Utah's mountains during wildflower season (usually July).

  8. What amazing photos! And, I laughed at the random stranger finger in the photo. I have an iPhone and might have done that more than once when asked to take someones photo. Somehow nervousness overtakes reason and there you have it, a finger in the photo!

  9. What an amazing trip! I'm stumbling for the right adjective to describe these pictures, but I'm not sure there is one to adequately describe them. You have me really wanting to travel to Alaska. : )

  10. Stunning! Thank you so much for sharing…one day perhaps I'll get there [ deeeep sigh]. Do you have a favorite photo from this trip? And it is? Sorry to see the trip end but the beauty, we can always revisit…Cheers~

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