Denali Nat'l Pk, AK

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Wednesday August 22, 2007 Today we were out of bed before 5:00 am to get ready to catch the shuttle bus by 6:00 am. The day was cloudy but it wasn’t raining. The shuttle buses take visitors into the park to see the scenery and wildlife, since private vehicles aren’t allowed passed mile 15 unless you are staying at Teklineka Campground at mile 32. Limiting the number of vehicles keeps the area more “natural” for animals. They are habituated to the buses and often come close to them. I appreciate not having to worry about driving a gravel road while trying to look for wildlife. Another advantage is you have more eyes looking for animals. I’m not a good spotter. The buses have about 60 seats (a nice school bus). and you make reservations for the time you want. Thinking wildlife is out early we chose the first shuttle. The ticket is purchased based on the turnaround destination. We didn’t go all the way to the end but to mile 70 which is about a 8-9 hour round trip, depending on how long the bus stops for wildlife sightings and rest stops. You have to bring your own food and drink.
Our bus was not crowded, less than half the seats were filled. That was nice because we could spread out a little. People were getting the hang of looking for critters and yelling out for the bus to stop. On a quiet stretch, all the sudden a teenager sitting near us (from Long Island, NY) yelled “stop, stop, I see something moving.” The bus stopped, we all looked and saw another bus moving in the distance! Was she embarrassed! On the trip out we saw moose, caribou and two grizzley bears. All the animals were far from the road, so photos were limited. We had decided to get off at a certain place after the turn around point to hike. When you finish hiking you go back to the road and flag down a return bus. We started our hike and about 30 minutes into it met up with a man who had been on our bus and got off the stop before us. He was an experienced backpacker and we tagged along with him. He was an interesting fellow. He had worked in Alaska several years and had had numerous interesting jobs; like counting walruses on the Alaska Coast (in the bush), and working on a fishing boat. Now he works in California at a regular job and lives on a sailboat. He had just been to the Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge backpacking solo (out there you are completely alone) for several days. He didn’t see any wildlife so he decided to head to Denali. We didn’t see any wildlife on our 4 mile hike (mostly vertical), but it wasn’t difficult walking. Getting out and walking gives you a feel for the park. After 3.5 hours we waved down a bus and headed back. The bus we got on had seen good a lot of wildlife close to the bus on the way out to the turnaround point. On the return trip we saw a few more caribou and a big moose.
We got back to CT at 5:30 pm. It was a long day, but enjoyable. By the way, we didn’t see Mt. McKinley today at all. There will be a few more opportunities. Tomorrow we move to the campground at mile 32.

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Photos

Caribou
Along the Denali Road

Polychrome Pass
A stop on the road. Great light on the mountains.

Moose
He was a big one! Look at those antlers!