September 20, 2016
We are out of our rooms in the pre-dawn darkness for our big day in the park. It is a short drive to the entrance of Denali National Park and Preserve and we are on the road as the sky turns from black to the deep blue of twilight. On the first fifteen paved miles we scan for signs of wildlife activity. Animals are more active at dawn (and dusk), right? Ummm, apparently not – we see nothing. At the fifteen mile mark a ranger checks our pass and goes over a list of rules. Now we are in the heart of the park, so the wildlife will be jumping out at us, right? Ummm, no – we drive many miles without seeing so much as a squirrel. We take a nature break at Toklat River rest area, which also has a small visitor center inside a heavy duty tent supported by metal A frames. It is bitterly cold and the howling wind makes the tent rattle. We ask if there are, like, any animals in the park and get the standard answer – it varies and it is hit or miss when and where you see them.
Driving forward on the undulating gravel road we finally have a sighting! Two caribou are slowly walking along a ravine well below us. They are too far away for anything more than a record shot, but it is our first real wildlife sighting of the day and my first wild caribou ever. As the road climbs we enter into light patches of snow, which had reportedly fallen the day before. The terrain is rocky and barren with snow capped mountains rising into a thick bank of clouds. We could easily be in the foothills of the Himalayas or Andes. It is a stark land, beautiful and intimidating at the same time. As we join a handful of other cars at an overlook, we notice more cars stopped on the road down below. This likely indicates a wildlife sighting and sure enough JH says there is a bear (meaning brown – we see no wild blacks on this trip). We had seen one very distant brown bear a couple miles back but this one holds more promise so we drive down the hill. He is still a bit away, but I can at least get a shot. He then walks somewhat parallel to the road and we run along the road to keep up. Finally I decide (along with all the other visitors) to return to the car and drive forward to keep up. The other cars, there are maybe ten, all drive up to where the bear is currently and hop out. What a bunch of amateurs. Think about it. The bear is still moving, so they will have to jump in and repeat the process in a minute or two. I, on the other hand, have the sense to suggest we drive well ahead before stopping and my two companions have the sense to concur. Although the bear is walking roughly parallel to the road, he has a slight bent in the direction of the highway. We hop out a quarter mile ahead of everyone else and my plan works perfectly. We have a wild brown bear in a field of light snow walking straight into our cameras! We are all snapping away, me on my tripod with JH and CH moving freely about. I have no need to move because, this is so great I cannot believe it, the bear is still walking straight towards me! Adrenaline is pumping as I rapid fire and he keeps approaching. My eye never leaves the viewfinder and finally he is almost filling the frame. At this point I think, maybe I should move my eye from the camera and look at the scene to see how close he really is just so that, you know, I don't get mauled to death or something. The bear keeps approaching and I suggest we get in the car, which JH and CH grudgingly agree to. If I had not said anything, how close would they have let him get?
A few miles on we stop at Eielson Visitor Center, which is the only full scale visitor center besides the one at the entrance. It is still bitterly cold and even windier than at Toklat. A board inside the visitor center says winds 30-40mph with gusts to 70mph! On a clear day this overlook offers a stunning view of the mountain, but on most days (today included) it is a view of the foothills with the Big One hidden in clouds. More miles with no wildlife and we stop at Wonder Lake campground for our picnic lunch. Being in a more protected lower elevation, the wind is surprisingly calm. We see a few songbirds around our picnic table and on leaving we see another grouse which JH and CH jump out for nice photos (but I miss, being behind the wheel). Several more miles and we hit the end of the road, which has a marker saying, well, End of the Road, as well as the mileage point: 92.5.
On the long drive back we finally get a good moose sighting – he even walks right down to a pond in front of us for a nice reflection. Shortly afterward we get a good caribou sighting. He is alone (where are the herds), but with mountains rising behind. I go down the hill from the road to get a better angle. This is the iconic Alaska photo I had envisioned before the trip. Going back along the road not much more happened, though we did see an alpine ground squirrel and a couple Dall's sheep. I believe somewhere on the trip CH and JH had seen a merlin being tormented by a crow (or was it a raven). I remember the crow but missed the small raptor. Back at the hotel for dinner, capping off our last full day in the 49th state.
