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Denali National Park and Preserve is a shining gem in America's national park system, largely unchanged by human beings, a subarctic wilderness. Mt McKinley was simply called "Denali" which means “The Great One”. At 20,320 feet above sea level, it’s the highest peak in North America, about 60% of mountain climbers make it to the summit.
The morning is looking promising, for clear skies and sunshine, it’s an early start at 7am. We all get a packed lunch and we are in the park by 8am, and what do we see? We are now in Club 30% - we are one of a few that actually got to see Mt McKinley in its grandeur! The weather is so unpredictable here that often the mountain is covered by cloud, but we had a lucky day, see photos for how clear it was.
Denali is a national treasure in part because it is a place where visitors may still see large animals at home in the wild and boy did we have a day of luck! Someone on the bus called out stop, that is the signal for the bus/tour guide to stop and then look for an animal, we were not allowed to yell out the name of the animal to save embarrassment if not an animal and we were to then stay very quiet. Our first encounter is a moose! Moose are big animals, lots bigger than what we ever thought.
Driving through the first part of the park, the taiga is a mostly uniform place, with relatively few plant species. White spruce is small and only a quarter of the height of spruce trees that grow farther south, alongside these modest growth pockets of aspen, paper birch and balsam poplar. Where the ground is soggy, black spruce dominate, many are stunted, not very tall.
As the road climbs, forested taiga gradually surrenders to the treeless tundra, where it’s cold and winds prevent trees from growing. The gradual transition portrays a patchwork carpet like viewing of the land and at this time of year the colours really are spectacular.
We come across our first two grizzly bears way in the distance; the bus was filled with excitement, long lenses out, clicking away. One was brown and the other the guide called Blondie. Then a few bends later we saw the Dall’s sheep – white dots moving on the steep baron cliff faces and wind-blown mountain ridges where they can roam freely beyond easy reach of wolves and bears.
Wow, now we are talking – we come across a big Grizzly by the roadside, busy consuming soapberries, his required calories before winter, he’s primarily vegetarian. Now that was exciting!!
Approaching Polychrome Pass, valleys sweep, with Glacier Rivers and on one river we see a Coyote making his way to a place that is shallow enough to cross, we watch to see him make it safely.
We make Mile 66 – almost the end of the only road into the park - the road is 92 miles, to view the magnificent Mt McKinley, it was breathtaking. The mountain was clear from clouds.
Whilst taking photos, who did we find but the curious and seriously cute Arctic Ground Squirrel, he was darting in and out of his log, standing at times up on his back legs – we were sure he was thinking – hey what’s going on!
It was time to turn back; we stopped at the Eielson Visitor Centre, a small tent with info about the park, the only one in the actual park. We had a chance to walk down to the cold Glacier Rivers, some crystal clear and others clouded by the silt.
Sable Pass was a winding road along the very edge of the mountain, and what did I see – yep – I called STOP! I was a bit nervous about saying stop with us being on such a narrow road, but it was worthwhile, because Mr Grizzly decided he was going to walk right on - past the bus, for another feed on berries. This was one of the closest encounters for the day.
We did get to see the State Bird – Willow Ptarmigan with fluffy feet, they nickname the bird Tarmi, the P is silent. We also viewed a Golden Eagle the only eagle that resides in the park.
As we neared the park entry, we did see another Grizzly on a hillside, but we were spoilt so a bear faraway didn’t seem worth while watching for long, we really did have a good day not only seeing the Grizzly so close up and personal but many other animals that reside in the park also.
I saw a quote that summed up the day:
“We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.”
A place for reflection and inspiration!
- comments
CJ Wow looks amazing and so pristine.