We catch a bus heading back towards the park headquarters. On this bus I recognize the woman who had been seated next to me on our Anchorage flight. This morning she had witnessed a grizzly chase off a wolf from the wolf's caribou kill. Five wolf pups were on the hill howling for their mother. The grizzly is still feeding on the caribou as we go back by. The wolves have moved over the ridge. Soon we spot another grizzly stalking a caribou across a gravel bar. This is like being in a nature channel shoot. We see 11 grizzlies in all that day. At Sanctuary Creek Kevin and I stop and hike North along the creek. The area South is closed ½ mile below. We yell "hey bear" as we move through the shrubbery and try our track reading skills. We find wolf tracks, but will not see any wolves on the trip. The driver on our final bus gives us our first lesson in glaciers as we pass medial morraines or eskers - the experts can't agree. At the park hotel I take a class in watercolor painting. We've already seen so much that I'd like to paint, but I have no trouble deciding to start with a mosquito. It's the only thing that has actually bitten me. It's been a long, exciting day. As we drive North we twice see a moose and calf just off the road, the last we're to see for a long time. We finally pull off the road and park for the night next to Goldstream Creek. There's a rustling in the woods and we view them suspiciously. Kevin directs me from the front of the truck as I back into the narrow road. The next morning an arctic hare watches us cautiously as he feeds. Guess it wasn't a bear after all. |
Alaskan Sampler - Denali |
Day 3 The time on my travel alarm is set wrong and it goes off at 4 a.m. instead of 5. It's already light and I don't know whether to trust my watch or the clock. We arrive at the Denali Visitor Center at 5:45 for our 6 o'clock bus. Our driver is Lee from Northern Ireland - he gives a special welcome to the McBrydes and McMullans. |
Our first grizzly sighting is at Polychrome Pass, a sow and her two cubs. The sow and one cub are amazingly blond. Hence the term grizzly. Soon we see a sole bear wandering on the road between our bus and a photographer's van. The photographer is outside his car and much closer to the bear than the quarter mile distance we've been cautioned to keep. Two other busses on the road above and our traffic seem to keep the grizzly confused. He moves back and forth between our bus and the van before scratching his back against a sign and finally running off uphill. |
In the meantime clouds have parted giving us our best view yet of Denali on the opposite side of the bus. We bounce back and forth across the bus snapping shots of the bear then the mountain. Before arriving at the Eielson Visitor Center we see two more grizzlies together. These are probably three year olds. After spending their first two years with their mother, the bears sometimes spend another year together before going off on their on. |
At the visitor center, the end of our purchased tour, Kevin and I eat an early lunch while watching Denali emerge across the picnic table. The sun glissens on the snow and ice. Beautiful. Our binoculars are worth their weight in gold. The closer view is dazzling. Official stats put the visibility at 90% soon before we arrive. It was the first time in four days that the mountain has been seen at all. We're told that only 25 to 30 percent of Denali visitors see any part of the mountain at all. |
As I finish packing up after lunch our next grizzly ambles down the mountain above heading straight for the visitor center. We grab our packs and cooler and move into the VC without waiting for the PA announcement to move inside. The visitor center is equipped with metal gates to lock us inside and the bear out. Within seconds the bear walks through the picnic area. Because of Denali's careful education programs this bear hasn't learned to associate people or the visitor center with food. He passes the tables without hesitation and moves down the hill before rolling onto his back and twisting back and forth for a good scratch. He slowly makes his way downhill while feeding on the bushes and shrubs. |
Two hikers come in to report a scare from a sow who charged them from so far away they couldn't see her without binocs. They're unhurt, but visibly shaken. Kevin and I had planned to hike near the VC while waiting for a ranger lead nature hike that afternoon. We're beginning to question whether we want to hike here at all. The rangers are directing hikers down a trail along the McKinley River, away from our last grizzly who is still meandering to the West. |
While pondering what to do from the observation deck, another grizzly shows up from the East, effectively cutting off the hikers just directed towards the river. As this bear feeds on willows, roots and gosh knows what just below the top of a ravine, a sole backpacker walks in from the East - on a collision course with the bear. Neither is aware of the other and they are both in the same field of view in my binocs. Much too close. A ranger gets the backpacker's attention and he is directed North. The backpacker has cut his trip short because of three other grizzlies. Too many for him. By now the second visitor center grizzly has moved into the bus parking area. For the second time that day, and the third time this summer, the rangers call everyone into the visitor center. They close the gates as the grizzly passes under the observaion deck. The first grizzly is still snacking just to our West. That's enough for me. I'm not hiking here. |
We catch a bus heading back towards the park headquarters. On this bus I recognize the woman who had been seated next to me on our Anchorage flight. This morning she had witnessed a grizzly chase off a wolf from the wolf's caribou kill. Five wolf pups were on the hill howling for their mother. The grizzly is still feeding on the caribou as we go back by. The wolves have moved over the ridge. Soon we spot another grizzly stalking a caribou across a gravel bar. This is like being in a nature channel shoot. We see 11 grizzlies in all that day. At Sanctuary Creek Kevin and I stop and hike North along the creek. The area South is closed ½ mile below. We yell "hey bear" as we move through the shrubbery and try our track reading skills. We find wolf tracks, but will not see any wolves on the trip. The driver on our final bus gives us our first lesson in glaciers as we pass medial morraines or eskers - the experts can't agree. At the park hotel I take a class in watercolor painting. We've already seen so much that I'd like to paint, but I have no trouble deciding to start with a mosquito. It's the only thing that has actually bitten me. It's been a long, exciting day. As we drive North we twice see a moose and calf just off the road, the last we're to see for a long time. We finally pull off the road and park for the night next to Goldstream Creek. There's a rustling in the woods and we view them suspiciously. Kevin directs me from the front of the truck as I back into the narrow road. The next morning an arctic hare watches us cautiously as he feeds. Guess it wasn't a bear after all. |
The shuttle bus is cold, and it takes awhile for the fog to clear from the windows. It's several miles before we're rewarded with our first wildlife - a young red fox sleeping beside the road just before the Savage River turn around. (Private cars need a special permit to proceed beyond this point.) Soon we see an occasional moose, several arctic hare, two additional fox, then a few scattered caribou (they don't form herds until nearer rut time) and Dall sheep up valley in a high meadow. |
Photo by Kevin McBryde |
Denali is both the highest point in North America and has the highest profile of any mountain in the world, rising 18,000 feet above the surrounding area. Everest rises 11,000 from it's base. Denali includes two peaks: South Peak, it's true summit at 20,320 feet and North Peak, 19,470. The mountain is officially named Mount McKinley, but called Denali, "High One" by Athabascan natives. Part of the Alaskan Range, permanent snowfields cover more than 50 percent of the mountain. It's often difficult to see being cloud-hidden as much as 75 percent of the summer. |
© Regina M. McMullan, 2000 |
