Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Clear skies greeted us as we began our bear spotting adventure into Denali National Park, a wildlife reserve of some 6 miilion square acres. However our adventure came to an abrupt halt about half an hour in when the brakes on our bus failed requiring us to wait for a change of bus to arrive. We did some walking around the site where we had pulled in but the very cool temperature and biting wind made it more acceptable to wait on the bus. Once underway our initial disappointment and setback was quickly overshadowed by the scenery presented to us. Proceeding along the road every turn and crest of a hill presented an ever changing landscape of freshly snow covered peaks reflecting brilliant sunlight giving an amazing backdrop to rolling hills of green and brown leading down to plaited rivers running through rocky river beds. Words really can't do justice to the different shadings created by the sun on these jagged edged mountains. Progressing further into the park the "hunt" for wildlife began. Initial sightings of Dall sheep high up on steep rocky ridges were encouraging. Caribou roaming on the plains were also sighted with enjoyment but the sighting of a Grizzly Bear was met with excitement. Sightings of all these animals continued with Caribou and bear being the most common. None of these animals was close to the road but could be observed from the bus with ease as our driver/guide was very adept at parking the bus so that all could view to advantage. Pulling into one of the Visitor Centres we were advised were to stay within the confines of the Centre as there was a bear roaming the environs. It was at this point that we were able to view Mt. McLinley, or a least the bit that wasn't under cloud. Mt McKinley (Denali) is America's highest mountain. sightings continued with a moose being added to our list of animals. Down the road we picked up a Park Ranger who gave us an insight into what it was like to live out there during the beginning of the 20th Century at the time of the Alaskan Gold Rush. She elaborated on some of the people who lived in the area. We reached "The end of the road" some 92.5 miles into the park before beginning the return journey. This was supposed to be a quiet trip back but the ever increasing count of animal sightings made the trip anything but. The highlight was the sighting of a mother Grizzly with her two cubs who after walking them across a hillside sat down and began to feed them. At the same time another Grizzly was approaching from the other way so in order to protect her cubs, Mother Bear chased it away and we mean chased. She chased it for a good 10 minutes with the cubs trailing behind. Once satisfied that they were no longer in harms way she reunited with them. Nearing home and beginning to think that all had been seen we came across a herd of moose, 1 male and 3 females, right on the road's edge. All in all we saw 21 bears, 5 moose, countless Caribou and sheep along with many Arctic Ground Squirrels. The thirteen hour experience was absolutely wonderful especially with the number of bears sighted given that the estimated bear population for the whole park is between 300 and 350.
- comments