Our bus
Ready to go.
We had been told that the Park rangers on the Tour buses were excellent but if we got lucky, our Shuttle bus driver would be very good too. We got lucky. Tina had been driving the buses for several years and not only knew HOW to spot animals but knew WHERE to look. Like at a small den of foxes WAY off on a hillside.
Caribou were a little easier to spot. Early in the season so he's still in velvet but still impressive.
A little farther along Tina points out a Mama Grizzly with two yearlings or maybe two year olds. One Mama's boy - or girl - and one adventurer who will not be seen near Mama.
Again, WAY off across the valley but with Tina's good eye and Carol's great picture taking, here are some good pictures of them.
Beautiful views of the mountains from the Visitor's Center. Denali is in the clouds. So we're in the 60% who did not see it. BUT many days visitors sit through an 8 hour round trip bus drive in rain and 50 feet visibility. We had blue skies - except for the clouds over Denali - warm temperatures and unlimited visibility.
Eielson Visitor's Center - These moose were fighting and got their antlers locked. They could not get free and died together.
The Shuttle system allowed us to stay as long as we wanted at the Visitor's Center but we decided to return with Tina because we didn't think we'd be lucky enough to get another driver as good as she was.
Good choice. The three bears were still in the same area EXCEPT closer.
Mama
Mama and cub
Cub
Park etiquette, which Tina enforced vigorously, is for complete silence when animals are near the bus. They do not associate the buses with people so do not become acclimated to us. They really did walk right alongside the bus while ignoring it completely so I guess the park system does work.
Another bit of park Alaskan "wildlife" - ground squirrel. Not exactly a rare sighting. Tina says her training as a park bus driver included instructions to never brake severely or swerve to avoid a squirrel.
We saw so many Caribou that Tina didn't stop for us to see them. But a large group, with several newborn calves was worthy of our attention.
Glacier fed rivers are usually "braided" rivers which means the gravel and silt swept downstream is so thick that the river is a wide bed of gravel with water changing paths almost daily.
Traditionally, the "BIG FIVE" to see in Denali were Caribou, Grizzly, Moose, Wolves and Dall Sheep. We were told not to expect to see wolves. The number has been reduced from 350 to less than 175 over the past few years. Roaming over 6 million acres. Not good odds.
We thought, "Two out of five isn't bad," especially since we'd had the moose experience up close and personal in Kris' back yard. And we were pretty sure we'd see Dall Sheep on out next excursion to Seward.
Tina did point out three Dall early on the trip but they were "those little white dots on that far slope." Too far for pictures. Our binoculars just made them slightly smaller white spots.
But as we were about to leave the park, this poor straggly fellow showed up on the side of the road. I hope he has a better spring and summer than his winter obviously was.
We missed the "on the hour" free shuttle by about 5 minutes. So I called The Crow's Nest and they sent a van to get us. It started sprinkling while we waited. We all had our rain jackets and hats, which we hadn't used yet, to keep us dry for the few minutes to took for the van to take us back to our cabin in the hill.
ANOTHER incredible day in the 49th.
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