Bull Moose, Denali national park
The night was miserable. It rained almost constantly until around four this morning. I lay awake thinking “what an incredible waste of money the bus tour we have booked tomorrow will be.” Nevertheless, we awoke just before six and after a quick breakfast where it did look like the clouds were breaking, as there was a bit of a sunrise, we were ready for the bus at 7:15
By this time the clouds had descended, and we were completely shrouded in fog. I wore my hiking hat, and commented that I was an optimist. Everyone at the bus was trying to be positive, but really it didn’t look like much of a day. That turned out to be the wrong prediction, as in a few hours the day had turned very nice.
Within a few miles of the start we saw our first wildlife, a bull moose grazing in the tundra. He had a very large rack, and most of the time had his head down eating. By the time we reached our first rest stop at an hour and a half into the trip, there were some breaks in the clouds. Things kept getting better, and shortly I spotted a Golden Eagle sitting on a cliff. We also saw two groups of Dall Sheep on the way in, and three Grizzly Bears, what appeared to be a sow and two yearling cubs.
At the Eielson Centre we hiked up to the ridge on the north side. This was about a four kilometre hike with an elevation gain of a bit over 300 m. The trail was well maintained so the hike was quite easy. It took us to the top of the ridge, so that you could see both the Alaska Range mountains to the south, and the other mountains and valleys to the north. The views were great, though Denali only poked its summit above the clouds for one brief moment. We were able to see many of the other lower snowcapped and glaciated mountains clearly.
The fall colours of the tundra were spectacular. There are reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and browns all intermixed. Sometimes the sun would shine on a patch of golden or red leaves highlighting it so that it stood out brightly. At other times the entire broad plateaus were intermingled colours as far as you could see.
Dall Sheep, Denali National Park
On the return trip we had to wait for a second bus. However it wasn’t a long wait, just about ten minutes. Coming back we saw the same types of animals as we had seen on the way out, Golden Eagles circling in the sky, Dall Sheep, and Grizzlies. However, we saw all but the eagles much more closely. The Dall Sheep were eating the leaves from the trees right beside the road. A couple of them walked nonchalantly and very slowly down the road as our bus driver followed them. All the sheep were rams, and they were quite complacent about each other, and the tourists, so obviously the rut has not yet started. Next Enid spotted three Grizzlies. They were very large, about a mile away, and two of them were chasing the other out of the small river. They moved incredibly fast as they charged the smaller bear on shore. A while later we saw another bear, smaller than the ones in the water, but very close as it walked right in front of the bus, crossed the road, and then ambled up the side of the hill beside us.
Everyone on the bus was quite tired, and a few of the passengers had fallen asleep. It was a very pleasant day in a spectacular park.