There are a few ‘convenience’ stops along the way but mostly it’s a butt-numbing bus ride. The goal is to score the big 7 of Denali:
Denali itself - not easy and only 1/3 actually see it and most of these see it as it plays hide and seek with the clouds. Denali is so tall and massive that it creates its own weather - mostly cloudy. Many never see it. They fly around it, they land on glaciers on its slopes, they take shuttles by it but never see the mountain itself. Of those who do see it, many have only brief glimpses of it as the clouds swirl by
Bear - we’ve had great views of bears on this trip but a bear would still be nice
Moose - we’d like to get better than the butt shot we got a few days ago
Caribou - fairly common and we saw quite a few on our Arctic adventure
Dall Sheep - too high on the slopes for many to see, and if they do see a small white dot on the slopes, it’s probably snow
Red Fox - very difficult
Wolf - nearly impossible
OK, OK - yes the ptarmigan, the Alaskan state bird is also one of the big scores but, come on, a bird? Which reminds me - a few days ago as we were traveling up the Alaska Highway, we saw a porcupine. Gary asked if he should stop so I could get a good picture and I laughed and told him no. Well, kick me hard, what a dumb thing to say. I’ve never seen a porcupine in nature and I just passed up my opportunity. I may never get another chance. So, I’d probably not pass up an opportunity to see a ptarmigan. In fact, check the blog - I’ve got a picture of several of them on our trip back from Deadhorse. I may be slow but I CAN learn.
So, we’re up at 4:00 and out the door by 5:25, heading over to the Wilderness Access Center which, even at 6:00 is like Grand Central Station. We’ve got our tickets, some snacks for the 12-hr bus tour, warm clothes (in fact, we followed the old adage: dress like an onion so you can peel the layers off) and my camera at the ready. We line up and talk with another couple, Gary (ha, ha - we can remember his name, all right) and Adair from Mission Viejo in California. The bus arrives, we all pile in and choose the seat we will have for the entire trip. On our seats is a paper bag with our snacks and lunch. On our faces are looks of anticipation.
But it is a long trip. We head down the 92.5 mile road at about 30 mph and our bus driver, Omar, tells us to call out ‘stop’ and the name of the animal we see whenever we see something worth stopping for. The first call we hear is ‘squirrel’. Yep, a ground squirrel has scurried across our path but our driver knows enough not to stop. At 20 miles, the pavement stops, the road turns to dirt and then narrows. I’m not sure that Omar knows that the road is narrow with steep sides. He’s bustling down it like he’s on the freeway. He’s obviously drives this road often and is comfortable. Me? I’m on the outside looking down - WAY down.
We climb and soon the trees disappear and we can see just how huge this park is. Noses pressed to the windows, we all peer out to be the first to see a bear, a moose, a caribou. But nothing. Omar tells us that this is common.This park is not as populated with animals as the TV shows lead you to believe: there are only about 2200 Dall sheep, only about 1600 moose, 52 wolves, 300 - 350 grizzlies and 2400 caribou. This is not the zoo, they are free to roam and they’ve got 6,000,000 sq. miles to roam.
We stop at our first ‘rest stop’ and all pile out. Other buses are lined up and lots of other people are lined up also. We joint the lines and I remember the rule: get in a line with mostly men.
We hit switchbacks, gentle curves, hills and continue on. Then Omar tells us to shut our eyes, he crests a hill, tells us to open them and there, spread before us is - Denali in all its glory. Not a cloud in sight, only blue sky to outline the snowy white of its slopes.
We know that only 1 out of 3 people who come here actually see Denali and I’m sure that the number is much lower for those who get such a clear day as ours. Could we have asked for any better weather? When I made out reservation for this trip 6 months ago, I just chose a date, I had no 6-month forecast, I didn’t even check the Farmer’s Almanac. Nope, I shut my eyes, put my finger on a calendar and - chose the most beautiful day of all. Could it be that the fates are trying to even the score for all the trouble we had at the beginning of our trip? If so, they did.
Just check these pictures.
But there are so many more gorgeous views throughout Denali. Everywhere you look is another canvas where nature has painted with all her palette.
By the way, the white line through the middle hugging the cliff is the road we were on.
When we hit the Eielson Visitor Center, 66 miles into our trip, we had another surprise. A red fox at attention, watching the magpie on a rock about 20’ away. Intently staring like a picture staring down a batter. ‘Don’t you dare’ he seems to be saying.
The magpie is singing, the fox is staring then, the magpie dares, it swoops down on the fox, the fox turns tail and trots swiftly down the road.
The magpie swoops in again. The fox picks up the pace and finally disappears into the brush. An amazing scene.
In Eielson VC we all watch a film about a crew that climbed Denali. It takes between 15 - 20 days depending upon the weather and definitely is no walk in the park. Storms are frequent, they carry no oxygen with them so have to take time to acclimate to the altitude, the footing on glaciers is treacherous - well, you get the idea. This is no sissy adventure and only very few people accomplish it.
Near the end of out trip Crystal, a National Park Ranger, joins us and gives a presentation about people who lived in this area. Denali was not always a National Park, it became a National Park in 1917. Before that it was a gold rush town, filled with miners all hoping to strike it rich. We learned about several of the families but one in particular, Fanny Quigley. 5’ tall and full of piss and vinegar, able to mine, farm, cook, hunt and survive in a harsh environment.
She kept her stove stoked to keep warm in the winter.
She and her husband, Tom, owned a stake in this area and were quite successful miners, until Tom’s mine shaft fell in on him and he had to be taken to Anchorage for hospitalization. Sounds simple, right? But not in the early 1900’s. When she found him, she had to get the only neighbor who then ran 40 miles to the nearest Ranger station where they were able to rescue him and get him to Anchorage. When he was released he decided to move someplace else but Fanny wanted to stay. In the end she died in her home in this area.
Then we hit the ‘End of the Road.’
The Park Service road went no further. But, my rear end tells me that we have gone far enough, we turn around and head back with Denali in our view for the first 40 or so miles. It was hard to turn away, knowing that this was the best view that could be had. The views were spectacular all the way back.
Imagine these antlers on your head. How do you run through the forest away from a predator? How do you hold your head up all day with an 80-lb pair of antlers on your head?
So, what did we score?
red fox,
moose
caribou
bear
Dall sheep - so far away and so blurry that my pictures are embarrassing.
and Denali, in all its glory. Naw, I’m tongue in cheek when I talk about ‘scoring’. We really had a good time, we learned a lot from Omar about the park and from Crystal about he early settlers. But just the trip through this wilderness area was a joy, to see the wilderness as it should be and know that the animals are thriving in a protected atmosphere is enough. To know that there are places like this is priceless.
We’ve got a hike all picked out for Friday - again with views of Denali. Given the clear skies, we don't want to pass up this chance.
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