We meet our driver, Mary Jane, who is a hoot -- she is driving a National Park Service bus which resembles a school bus but not as comfortable -- there is a box lunch on everyone's seat which includes the makings of a cheese and reindeer sausage sandwich. The bus is full -- the rain has stopped and off we go.
By 7:40 am we have seen a moose and shortly after our 8:45 am rest stop we see six bears (one mother and two baby cubs--and just across the field another mother with two older cubs). This was a great start to the day. We continue driving through this spectacular park with Mary Jane narrating and providing us with all sorts of information.
Denali National Park is 6.2 million acres -- the same size as Massachusetts.
Do you know the difference between a Reindeer and a Caribou? Not much of a difference -- a Reindeer is a domesticated Caribou -- except that of course we all know Reindeer can fly.
What is the difference between Antlers and Horns? Horns are forever -- Antlers fall off and grow back annually. Caribou antlers are really heavy -- we were able to hold some antlers at one of the rest stops in Denali -- I don't know how these animals keep their heads up.
About 11 am we stopped at the Stoney Hill Overlook -- there was Mt. McKinley -- again through the clouds but the peak was visible. This is when we turned around heading back over the same road --which meant we had to go through the Polychrome area again. This is really scary -- we are on the side of the mountain with barely enough room for two vehicles to pass.
Even though we were going over the same territory -- it looked different and felt different. We had more animal sightings maybe because the weather had improved. Just past Noon -- we had an amazing bear sighting as we were waiting on the road for something up ahead -- someone on our bus saw this bear coming down the embankment right next to us. The bear proceeded as if we weren't there meandering in the direction from which we had come down the middle of the road.
Mary Jane said her record for bear sightings in one day is 12 (she's been driving this route for 11 years). We ended our trip having seen 12 Bears -- several Caribou -- a couple of Moose -- quite a few arctic ground squirrels and in the far distance up in the mountains several Dall Sheep.
We arrived at the hotel about 2:30 pm -- long but good day. Phil and I walked across the street to check out the shops -- nothing worthwhile but we needed the exercise.
We met Patte and Dave for dinner at the Nenana View Grille on the property. It was pretty good and convenient. We sat for a while after dinner in the Nenana View Bar to enjoy this view which I cannot justifiably describe -- it needs to be experienced.
We tried to stay up but were all tucked in by about 9 pm.
Thanks for Reading!
Pat
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