All Creatures Great and Small

Mt McKinley - or as the locals call it - Denali
see all photos »

Today was a 5:10am start for our 7pm departure for Denali. We boarded our luxury coach - an old school bus with enough leg room for a 6 year old. After everyone cosied up in their seats, we set off on our 8hr bus trip into Denali National Park. Our driver Matt provided commentary about the wilderness park and animals that inhabit it. There were chances today to see an array of wild animals, but he reminded us, that it was up to the animals if they were going to show themselves. The park is roughly 6 million acres with only one road traversing through it with access on this road limited to the National Park buses and limited private motor homes with permits to the camping ground.

Early morning mist in Denali National Park
see all photos »

We sat in our seats and waited with anticipation for animals to show themselves. The first we spotted was Alaska's state bird, and then a snow owl. This was followed excitedly by a large male moose. His antlers were bright white, having recently dropped its pelt, which made it stand out in the brush. Next we spotted some Dall sheep, bright white spots standing precariously high up on the mountain sides.

Damn that shy Moose!

Moose
see all photos »

Then, our driver excitedly stopped the bus, and said that we were indeed very lucky today as Denali was visible. This is the more widely known name for Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in Northern America. It is usually clouded in 75% of the time, but as the morning mist cleared for us, the mountain was visible in all its splender. A magnificent white towering peak against an azure blue sky. After hopping off the bus and taking many and varied photos, it was back into our charriot to continue our adventure.

Momma and baby brown bear
see all photos »

Next on display was a small herd of grazing Caribou on the ridge of a small rise. The driver then spotted a lynx which evaded our eyes. It is rare to see these cats. We then spotted another moose who was being shy and didn't want to show us his face. This one's antlers still had its pelt. We were then afforded a view of a brazen wolf who walked right across the road in front of our bus, not concerned really, and lazily walked off the road and into the bush.

We hit the turn-around point at mile marker 63 and decided it was a good time to eat our provided box lunch. This consisted of a croissant, piece of cheese, slices of reindeer salami, crisps and granola bar. Luckily we had also brought along some chocolate snack bars and savoury biscuits to tide us over in this 8hr long journey.

The truth...I do have horns!!!
see all photos »

We feared that the last large animal that we had not yet seen was going to evade us - the Brown Bear. But after a patient wait, we saw a mother bear down by some water, and soon after a cub from what we think was last season joined her. Even though they were a short distance away, the camera lens brought them closer! Not long after this we had our real excitement for the trip. As we rounded a corner, a herd of Dall sheep were standing on the road in front of the bus. We waited here for the sheep to move off the road - but they seemed very apprehensive about moving down into the gully on the left. Some walkers coming along the road in the other direction scared the sheep into the gully. We sat and watched them here as they then moved up the hill. Someone all of a sudden yelled out - "There's a lynx - it's stalking the sheep". So we waited and watched - and sure enough after a while, the lynx went on the attack to the four sheep at the front of the pack. They raced straight up the hill, seperating themselves from the 5 or 6 others chased back down into the gully. The Lynx gave up the chase and we think planned to wait for the other sheep to start on their climb. At this point we had to keep moving as other buses were moving up behind us. There was no more excitement or animals on the remainder of the trip, but our bus driver said that we were very lucky with what we had seen for the day. We were quite pleased with the trip, uncomfortable as it was.

Caribou herd
see all photos »

On our return to the hotel, we had about an hour before our next tour for the day. We Set off for our ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) Stampede adventure trail tour.

It took about 30min in the small bus to get to the starting point. We were given helmets and optional gloves and told to pick a jeep. Joe took to the wheel and we were off. I held on for grim death as we wound our way around a very bumpy, rocky, water filled path through brush and bushes that were crashing down the sides of the vehicle. This path took about 45min to drive until we came to a stop where the guides offerred us sodas and crisps to snack on while they cooked us cheeseburgers and hotdogs. After this short break, it was my turn at the wheel for the return journey. I found it far less terrifying being in the drivers seat on the way back. Joe, he took it all in his stride and videoed the entire return trip. I'm still not sure how he managed to not hold on with at least one hand. I tried my best to drive in every deep pothole on the way back to see if I could make him hang on!

Alaskan state bird
see all photos »

We were so exhaused when we got back we hit the sack for yet another early morning start for our trip to Seward.