Editor's note: CL food critic Jon Palmer Claridge is in Alaska doing "research." This is part of an ongoing series sharing his culinary adventures.
If an Alaskan cruise is on your bucket list, be sure to include a leg on land to the six million-plus acres of the Denali National Park and Preserve. And after you've had your fill of grizzly bears, caribou and moose, you'll have the rare opportunity to experience a day of travel reminiscent of the elegant days on the Orient Express or the 20th Century Limited.
The McKinley Explorer, a double-decker domed train, winds through some of Alaska's most beautiful scenery and over a trestle that has you floating 300 feet above the river canyon. We even got a glimpse of the coy Denali peak that had previously remained obscured by cloud cover. A personal travel guide in each car narrates the route so you don't miss any photo ops.
The culinary highlight on this eight-hour journey is a leisurely lunch in the stylish dining car on the train's lower level. Who could pass up a chance to eat more seared wild Alaskan salmon? This is especially true when it sits on a quinoa salad with Mediterranean flair: Kalamata olives, sweet white onions, cucumbers, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, arugula and a scrumptious tahini-garlic dressing.
If fish doesn't float your boat, taste the reindeer chili. The combo of ground reindeer, tomatoes, Alaskan amber and secret spices won the Alaska State Fair Chili Cookoff. Garnished with Cheddar and green onions, it's served with a slab of old-fashioned cornbread.
Plus, a full liquor bar is at your service, and the desserts are unexpectedly good. There's carrot cake finished with whipped cream stars that ape the Alaska flag, and a wonderfully flaky mixed fruit pie with vanilla ice cream.
Whether you cruise before or after, the train connecting Denali and Anchorage is a peak experience.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.