Day Fifteen - Denali National Park

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Not a good way to start the day. I used the park's bathroom this morning instead of our to conserve tank space. I reached for the toilet paper and it was empty! It was one of those big round dispensers that held four rolls and EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS EMPTY! I sent an emergency text to Mike who brought me the roll from our bathroom. Whew! sometimes it pays to always have your phone with you.

Today we had tickets for the green Denali Transit bus at noon. Dogs were not allowed on the bus so we made them comfortable and set a time limit for ourselves so the pups wouldn't be left alone too long. We left earlier than we had planned because one of the other campers, a man from Texas, told Dave we should go across the highway to the old highway. He said to go out about two miles where there was a rise in the road with turnouts on either side. He then told him we should look behind us. Sounded like a good plan. We loaded our cameras, backpacks and lunch coolers into the truck and followed the man's directions. As we neared the rise, Dave looked in his rear view mirror and said, "Oh, my goooshshsh." The rest of us immediately turned in our seats and there was an amazing view of Denali. Dave stopped the truck at the turnout and we all jumped out, cameras and phones ready. It stood taller than the surrounding mountains and was easily picked out from the crowd. THIS is what we were hoping to see. And we would see more of it on our bus tour.

We parked at the bus depot just inside the park and Dave went in to get our tickets. Two different bus tours were offered at Denali National Park: a fully-narrated tour on a school bus painted tan; and a non-narrated tour on a green school bus. The tan buses had several photo stops along the way and riders were assigned to a specific bus. The drivers of the green transit buses gave some narration, but the bigger difference between the two was riders were allowed to get off and, if space was available, on the green buses at designated stops, usually near trails. We weren't sure how much we would be able to do and see during the tour so back when we were planning and making arrangements we decided to make reservations for two days. The tours were half as long as they would be normally because a rockslide damaged the road at a place called Pretty Rocks. We would only be able to go as far as Mile 43. We knew about the rockslide when we planned all this; it wasn't a surprise to us. As we were waiting in line it was decided we would hop off the bus here and there on the way out to Mile 43, then stay on the bus on the way back to the depot. Tomorrow we would do the opposite. In line ahead of us was a group of Boy Scouts from Texas and their adult leaders. By the time we boarded, there weren't four seats together. We ended up sitting about four rows apart and on opposite sides of the aisle. Teri and Dave were farther back than Mike and me. All aboard, our driver set off on our somewhat narrated tour. She explained the rules of the tour: no food outside - they don't want the animals to get used to eating human food; cameras and cell phones must be inside the windows because she wouldn't stop the bus to get stuff dropped outside - potentially dangerous animals and all. She also gave us bits of information about the surroundings, listed some of the animals we might see and most importantly gave us directions as to what to do if we do saw an animal. That direction was to yell STOP as loudly as we could, then tell her what we saw and where. We were instructed to use a clock system to more accurately describe where the animal was located: 12:00 - in front of the bus; 6:00 - behind; 3:00 directly to the right; 9:00 - directly to the left; and the other "hours" filled in the spaces between those four primary points.

Yesterday the clouds were thick and low. Today the sun was shining and the bright blue sky was dotted with big cotton balls. We had perfect weather for catching a glimpse of the reason we came here. There were several turnouts along the road to take in the scenery, or maybe scan the area for wildlife. About a half hour into our tour we stopped at one of these and there before us was Denali in all its magnificence! What I thought was The Great One yesterday was actually smaller mountains. Denali was completely hidden behind a curtain of clouds so dense not even a hint of the mountain could be seen. There was no doubting today which mountain was Denali. Breathtaking. People sitting on the driver's side of the bus lowered their windows and snapped picture after picture then leaned out of the way for those of us across the aisle to have an unobstructed view and take a few pictures of our own. Because we were in the land of lots of animals who could easily injure or kill us, we were not allowed off the bus for photo ops. All of my pictures of our tour would be from the safety of the bus. Good thing I had my other lens that would allow me to zoom in a bit further.

The road followed a river bed that was mostly dry, it was the middle of July after all. At one particularly wide spot in the river there was a band of bushes and small trees running down the middle. Behind the bushes, someone had spotted the large rack and head of a caribou lying on the rocky sand bar. There were several excited calls of "Caribou!" Then someone remembered and shouted, "STOP!" The driver responded, you could hear the teasing smile in her voice, "That's what I was waiting to hear," and immediately slowed the bus and stopped. She allowed enough time for everyone to have an opportunity to snap a few pictures before moving ahead.

Our driver claimed the next wildlife sighting. A family of Ptarmigan had crossed the road in front of the bus and were making their way to the safety of the rise and bushes at the side. We stopped to allow them safe passage and she described what she saw for those farther back who wouldn't be able to see the small brown birds. She also gave a little information regarding the birds, none of which I can remember, sorry. Google it. Not long after, another family crossed the road going the other direction. In all we saw four families of Ptarmigan.

We arrived at the end of the pavement and the guard house where we were so unceremoniously turned away yesterday. This time they HAD to let us through! A quick confirmation of the number of passengers and we crossed the line onto the gravel road that would lead us past flora and fauna not yet seen by us.

The next stop was a short restroom stop and another "window" for viewing the snow-covered mountain in the distance and the river bed just below us. There was a large viewing platform that allowed for some great shots.

About a half hour later I saw somehting out my window as did a few others on our side of the bus. We all yelled, "STOP!" and told the driver and other passengers we'd spotted a Dall Sheep on what looked like the remnants of a rockslide. It was about two-thirds of the way up the hill. Now it was our turn to get the first pictures of the animal. It was pretty far away and even with my zoom lens, it was a small white dot in the middle of a sea of burnt sienna. After I'd had my fill of picture-taking, I sat and allowed others to use my open window for themselves.

Farther on we stopped again at the third and final Denali window. It's still enough of a spectacle to want to take more pictures. After our brief photo pause we continued until another "STOP!" was shouted. This time someone had spotted not one, but three caribou nestled in a shady alcove across the river bed. They were partially hidden behind a shorter wall of stone. Apparently it was not uncommon to see them in this area. My zoom lens came in handy again. There was another woman on the bus who had a zoomier lens. I had lens envy.

During one of our brief pauses, probably for one of the Ptarmigan families, the woman seated in front of me and I both saw an Arctic Ground Squirrel next to the bus just below our windows. It stood up on its haunches briefly then scurried into the bushes before either of us could get a picture.

We arrived at the bulb at the end of the road. Mile 43 sported a wide turn-around area for the transit and tour buses. The road itself continued across a bridge, but was closed to everything but rockslide-clearing heavy equipment. Our stop here was another extended one allowing riders an opportunity to get out and stretch their legs, take more pictures and use the restrooms located across the bridge. Tour and transit bus passengers were not the only people there. Several others either hiked their way up or rode bikes. Either way, that was quite a trek for them!

The return trip had much fewer stops and the stops we did make were a little shorter in duration. We stopped again where we'd seen the three caribou; they had not yet moved on. Another stop was due to a tour bus that had stopped. We could see the passengers all looking out the windows. From our vantage point we couldn't see what they were looking at or for. As we slowly pulled around and past the bus the driver mad a clawing motion which our driver told us was their sign for "bear." We stopped again once we were past and looked again, but nobody could find it. Our driver asked if we were okay with continuing down the mountain and we all gave our consent.

It was a good thing we got plenty of pictures of Denali on the way up. She was partially hidden behind clouds on the way back. Ahead of us in the distance was another impressive mountain. Our driver told us we were looking at Mount Deborah and she can be even more elusive than Denali. The weather today cooperated and we were fortunate to be able to see both in one day.

As I explained earlier, the benefit of the transit bus is the ability to get off and explore. One family did that on the way up, which left seats available to others who may have exited their bus earlier. Also on the way up we passed a group who had taken a guided trail hike. That group was still making their way down after we made the turn, so our driver stopped and offered them a lift to the bottom. They readily accepted. We came upon two other groups of people. The first was a small group who also accepted, but the second was a little larger and declined the offer. They were enjoying taking everything in at their own pace.

Back near where we began we dropped the Boy Scout troop off at their campground and another group at another campground before turning into the bus depot. We disembarked, thanking our driver on our way by and made our way to the truck. We talked about our tickets for tomorrow and whether or not we really needed them. We had seen everything and none of us really had any desire to jump off the bus and explore any of the trails. I suggested instead of eating the cost already paid for the tickets, we try to sell them. Any money we got for them would be less out of our pockets. We were able to sell two of them before our predetermined time limit and we needed to get back to camp to relieve the puppers.

The boys were happy to see us. I'm sure it was mostly because their bladders were full and their tummies empty. Sadly, we left them again, but this time it was only for an hour or so. We went to the McKinley Creekside Cafe for dinner. The main building has souvenirs, fresh baked goodies and a cafe/restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. Also on the property were rental cabins that must have been tucked back among the trees behind the cafe. Yes, there is a very nice creek that runs alongside the restaurant. Dinner was delicious and our server was delightful. Before we left we made reservations for brunch on Sunday.

Back at camp for the night. Charlie was happy we were finally home to stay. When I sat at the dining table to work on my blog, he would jump in my lap and try to curl up and nap. It hasn't worked so far. His back leg would slide off my lap as he relaxed. Eventually I would be forced to set him on the floor and he would take the three steps to his daytime bed and curl up until I was ready to call it a night. Then we would both climb the three steps up to the bedroom. He would sleepily go into his kennel and patiently wait for his treat.

And that's a wrap for today. Goodnight.

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