Our 2007 Driving Tour Of Alaska - Denali, Day 13
May 21, Day 14. We had earlier decided to take a 50 mile bus tour out the park road today so we got up fairly early, drove to the park and had serious coffee at the camp store. One of the things that we found surprising in Alaska was the number and frequency of espresso kiosks we saw. Almost every store we stopped at had an espresso kiosk or, at least, a machine. There were free standing espresso stands everywhere you looked. Really amazing. We guessed it was related to the long periods of darkness in the winter and the need to stay awake under conditions that suggest time to sleep. Anyway, we carried our coffee to the Wilderness Access Center at the Denali Visitors' Center. We figured that it was early enough in the tourist pre-season that there would be very few people wanting seats so we could get one easily . . . WRONG! The earliest we could get a seat was on the noon bus. We signed up for this, then changed our minds and switched to an 8:00 AM trip tomorrow. Then we had second thoughts and decided to take the noon bus also. So back to the ticket counter and bought another set of tickets for the noon trip. We used the intervening three-four hours to ride up the park road again, seeing the usual cast of characters but not stopping for any photography.
Noon and time to climb onto the bus. It was immediately obvious that I wasn't going to be able to use my telephoto lens and tripod so I left them in the car. The rules prohibited anyone getting off the bus unless they were leaving the group to hike. This was allowed but not within a mile of any animal life that had been spotted from the bus. One could get off and catch a later bus or this one on its return trip - if there was room! We saw a lot of people trying to catch a bus but being turned down due to the lack of space on the busses. So much for that idea! We did the entire 50 mile trip, only getting off a few times at the appointed rest centers. We saw a lot of wildlife but without the proper equipment and only able to photograph out of the bus windows, I did very little photography.
We stopped at Teklanika where we saw the bears encountered here earlier but they were too far away for my lens. Along the route, we saw Caribou, Dall Sheep, Snowshoe Hares, Willow Ptarmigans, Moose and a number of different birds. Magpies, hawks and Northern Harriers were fairly common. We stopped at another visitors' rest area where there was an overlook up a small peak off the parking area. We climbed up and the scenery was really spectacular.
And did I say it was cold?
We completed the tour on the bus out to Toklat River and back. The road was really nerve wracking in places. It climbed a mountain range at Polychrome Pass where the gravel road was barely wide enough for two vehicles. On taking a curve on the outside, the bus was frequently so close to the edge of a drop of hundreds of feet that the passengers couldn't see the road. Scary! Anyway, we finished the trip, seeing numerous examples of the wildlife but none suitable for photography with the equipment I had brought along. The main thing that was new was a Golden Eagle that was cruising along the roadway for several hundred yards before turning off toward the mountains. He/she was too far away to try to get photos of him/her though.
We arrived back at the Wilderness Access Center about 6:00 PM, collected the car and struck out for Glitter Gulch for dinner. Had dinner at Salmon Bake and went back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we have another bus tour starting at 8:00 AM.