2009 Tour Of Alaska - Denali National Park
September 1, Tuesday - We checked out of Gwen's - sort of, they were closed for the day so we left the keys in the room - and headed for Denali. After an uneventful trip, we got to "Glitter Gulch", the commercial area at the entrance to the park, around 5:00 PM and decided to check into our hotel in Healy about 8 miles north of the entrance. We checked in at the Denali Park Hotel, then decided to make one run out the park road. Denali has one road into the park. It runs something like 90 miles to an old mining community called Kantishna, now a community of hotels and resorts. Only the first 10-15 miles are accessible by private automobile, the remaining 80 miles only available by bus. The park runs shuttle busses that one can ride, get off and hike, then catch the next bus and continue on or go back to the Wilderness Center - if there is space on the bus! On our 2007 trip, we found that we saw the same variety of wildlife over the first 10 miles as on the longer bus rides but there were more opportunities if one covered more territory on the busses. Plus, you had about 30 pairs of eyes looking for wildlife, thus a better chance of spotting it, and you saw more scenery. On the other hand, photography from the busses is difficult since you can't get off when wildlife is spotted and have to shoot out of a window. However, we thought we'd first check out the public section of the road.
Sure enough, we had hardly gotten out of the park's headquarters area when we encountered a grizzly bear digging into the roadbed. He continued, unbothered by the van stopped right beside him or the 10-15 cars stopped photographing and watching him. After a while, he ambled across the road and into the brush. |
One of the things for which we were totally unprepared on this trip was the fantastic fall color we encountered in Denali. Apparently, we hit the absolute peak of fall color. It was really spectacular. The ground cover was mostly berry bushes, low bush cranberry, bog blueberry, alpine bear berries, willows and low growing birches - among others. The main components were the bear and blue berries though. This ground cover was in evidence everywhere on the tundra (treeless region) as well as under the trees in the sub tundra. The vast expanses of color naturally lend themselves to panoramas. There are a large number of photos of the colorful terrain throughout the park.
The river bottom in the last photo above, by the way, is the Savage River. This is the end of the publicly accessible part of the road. On the drive back, people were looking at a mountain across a valley from a pullout. We stopped and saw a couple of bears but too far away for any photos. Then a bull moose sauntered out of the woods in the valley and waded into a small pond, apparently eating pond vegetation.
After seeing this much wildlife at one spot, we were encouraged. We drove on, passing through regions where there were aspens and (I think) birch trees amongst the spruce trees. These were brilliant yellow and gave a different appearance to the scenery. On the last part of the drive back to the visitors' center area we saw mostly the brilliant, yellow regions, although somewhat muted because of the lateness and overcast. | ||
We headed back to "Glitter Gulch" and had dinner at one of our favorite Alaskan restaurants, the Salmon Bake. Then on to the Denali Park Hotel and to bed.
The next day, Wednesday, September 2, We had breakfast in the room (muffin and coffee), then drove to the park. We decided to drive slowly out to Savage river, then hike the Savage River Trail which parallels the creek, crosses it, then returns on the other side. There is, however, a trail that takes off at the bridge crossing the river and follows it into less frequently traveled territory. On the way to Savage River, we again enjoyed yet more beautiful scenery.
We hiked along the Savage River - actually, hardly a creek - but saw virtually no wildlife. On the previous trip to Denali, we saw, on a single hike along the river, several marmots, a couple of arctic ground squirrels, many ducks on the river, and a number of Dall sheep. This time, nothing! I photographed a small rivulet to show the size of the river. I also took a few minutes to try to get some shots of the red ground cover plants. | |
We hiked back to the parking lot along the opposite side of the river. From the bridge, we got a different view of the river and its channel.
We headed back to the entrance but along the way, we encountered a "wildlife block" - where someone spots some animal and everyone stops in the road to see it - at a section where there was a bog on one side of the road. Everyone was watching a bull moose and at least one cow. They were in the deep brush though and weren't very photogenic.
We watched the moose (mooses???)for a while, hoping he'd move to a more exposed position, then gave up and drove on to Glitter Gulch since it was now mid afternoon and we had no lunch. After a late lunch/early dinner at Salmon Bake, we looked around at a few of the "gift shops" that, with the numerous hotels, comprise the businesses of "Glitter Gulch". This was close to the end of the tourist season so all of them were having sales. We didn't buy anything but enjoyed looking. We then went back to the park to the Riley Creek Mercantile, the park's camp store. After looking around, we then went over to the Wilderness Center where one buys bus tickets. Over lunch/dinner we had decided we'd ride the bus out to Kantishna, 90 miles into the park and the end of the park road. After buying our tickets, we drove to Savage river again, hoping to see more wildlife. We saw a bull moose at a distance but too far to photograph. Nothing unusual seen, we headed back to the Gulch and then to the hotel. The bus tour, a thirteen hour trip, leaves at about 8:30 AM so we needed to be up and away early - thus early to bed.
Thursday, September 3, up early and off to the Wilderness Center for our bus tour. The bus, an ordinary school bus, left promptly at 8:30. We rode a while before seeing our first moose but on the other side of the bus and hidden by trees and brush. Mt. McKinley or Denali (the high one) was clearly in view today. This is an unusual situation since the 23,000 foot mountain is almost always covered with clouds. One of the other passengers asked to stop at the Mt. McKinley view point on the section before Savage River. The driver said there would be better opportunities later. Indeed, we stopped at another viewing point much closer to the mountain.
A bit further along, before Igloo Creek, we spotted three grizzly bears on a hillside, Dall sheep waaaaay up on a mountainside and a herd of caribou - but all too far away for to get decent imagess. A short time later, we saw a bear on a slope not too far off the highway and I got some decent shots of him/her.
About two or two and a half hours out, just before the Toklat River rest stop, we saw a wolf standing in the roadway. We were able to approach fairly closely in the bus. There was a government truck even closer. He stood there for a minute or so, then began to howl. He howled for another minute, then turned and trotted off into the low bushes of the tundra. This was our first wolf, in spite of many trips to parks where they are extant and was a real treat!
At the Toklat River rest stop, the scenery was a bit different. The very wide river bottom and brown toned mountains were somewhat different from the previous regions. There were about 6 busses stopped here. Some of the bus riders really enjoyed the display items provided by the park rangers.
Here are a couple of examples of the scenery here at Toklat River. The extremely broad river botton, given the very small river, is because the channels freeze so the river water finds another one. Over the millenia, the result is this very broad river "channel".
We stopped at a pullout some distance up the road. There was a really awesome view of Mt. McKinley/Denali from here. We were allowed off the bus for photography so I was able to get enough shots to make the panorama below.
A little further along, just before the Eielson Visitor Center, found this caribou grazing on the tundra. He stopped and seemed to attend to something off to the left. He was some distance away but I got a few shots anyway.
We stopped for lunch and more shots of Denali at the Eielson Visitor Center. For those who saw the recent PBS show on the national parks, America's Best Idea, the Eielson Visitor Center was one of the things most objected to by the park biologists and others hoping to preserve the interior of the park. Anyway, we stopped there for our BYOL and a rest. Mt. McKinley/Denali was in full view from here. The park road gets nearer and nearer to the mountain as on progresses out - about 20 miles away at Wonder Lake vs more than twice that from the lookout near the park entrance. Anyway, here's one of the mountain and one with Dot and the mountain.
And here's a panorama of the river plain and McKinley/Denali from the visitors' center.
The rock squirrels were all over the area - probably looking for handouts or hunting scraps. This one hopped onto the stone wall and posed for some time.
After Eielson, we wandered on to Kantishna. We saw some of the points of interest, like the airstrip, and historical features, the most interesting being Fannie Quigley's home. Fannie was an pioneer woman who lived off the land, with a little gold mining and income from previous gold mining operations, in Kantishna. For more info, check her biography. After wandering around Kantishna for a while, we reboarded the bus and headed back down the road to the Wilderness Center . . . 90 miles away.
The first stop on the return trip was Wonder Lake, a lake formed from glacier melt waters. It is surrounded by vegetation of all kinds, most notably, the blue berries that cover the landscape throughout the park. Dot and I picked and ate a few blue berries but I found them a bit tart. The scenery was beautiful though - and there was another great view of Mt. McKinley/Denali.
And Dot enjoyed the colorful yellow aspen and birch trees. | |
And here's a panorama of a river bottom and mountains from a point further along the road.
On down the road a way, beyond Eielson, we encountered two Grizzlys. One of them was farther back but this one was eating berries fairly close to the road and stayed there for some time.
As we rode on down the road, close to the area where we found the wolf earlier, Dot spotted a wolf running along the river bottom. He was moving, the bus was moving, but I got a couple of shots. They were, predictably, blurred but identifiable.
A short distance further, we spotted a caribou in the distance. When the bus stopped, we identified eight or ten more - a whole herd - scattered around the tundra. They were too far away for serious photography but I liked this shot of two on a distant ridge.
As we approached Teklanika, there was a lynx sitting beside the road looking over the river bottom. He sat there for a full minute before turning and dropping down the bank and out of sight. This was another first and a very enjoyable encounter.
A bit farther along, someone on the bus spotted another caribou on the tundra. He was a bit too far away for a good photo but here he is anyway.
We finally made it to the Wilderness Center about 8:30PM - thoroughly exhausted! We drove to Glitter Gulch and had dinner at the Salmon Bake, then went back to the Denali Park Hotel, downloaded images and collapsed, dead tired.
Friday, Sept 4, 2009. We struggled up this morning, still tired from yesterday, had coffee and headed for the park. The first couple of days had been overcast until about the halfway point on yesterday's bus trip - and the bus ride wasn't conductive to photographing scenery other than shots of Denali for which we stopped. Today, the weather had cleared up and it was beautifully sunny and bright. We decided to spend more time with the scenery since the lighting was conductive to its enjoyment. I did quite a bit of photography but since we've already shown so much of the scenery, I'll avoid repeating things you've already seen. This panorama is one exception.
While stopped at an overlook, I got an opportunity to get some shots of the blue berry bushes up close.
The view of Denali was really nice this morning with the bright blue sky and limited clouds.
There was a region near the park headquarters where there were a lot of yellow aspens and birchs. It was impossible to get the full expanse of some areas due to the interference of roadside trees. The color was really beautiful.
As we rode along the park road, we noticed many individual trees that were especially colorful and in some cases, when the sun was behind them, seemed to glow.
In the first part of the publically accessible 15 miles, there was a bog where a bull moose and a couple of cows were hanging out. About two or three miles of this region, by the way, was closed to off-road excursions because it was a moose rutting area. We showed some shots of the moose in the brush above but today, one of the cows was in the open . . . well, somewhat in the open.
We dropped by the Wilderness Center and signed up for a bus trip to Toklat River. We had decided we didn't see all that much after Toklat and we wanted to do some hiking so we elected the shorter ride. After a leisurely day, we had another great meal at Salmon Bake and tumbled into bed.
Saturday, September 5. This being our last day at Denali, we had scheduled today's bus ride to Toklat River on a more leisurely schedule than the thirteen hour ride to Kantishna in hopes that we would get a chance to hike some. We got to the Wilderness Center in time for our 8:30 departure and were soon on our way. We passed the bog and, sure enough, the bull moose was out and about, but across the park road in the tundra. As he moved around, he was in the clear frequently.
Further along, we spotted a herd of Dall sheep on the hillside. They were way up there but I managed to get a few shots.
Then, a short time later, we encountered this caribou on the tundra. A bit far away but nice in the colored tundra.
We saw a number of examples of the usual animals but I didn't get any photos, having already gotten better shots of all of them. After reaching the Toklat River visitors' center, we started back. Somewhere around Polychrome Pass, we spotted this fox standing at the side of the road, intent on something on the cliff face. After about a minute, he turned, looked at us and calmly trotted alongside the bus in the direction opposite to that in which we were headed. This was a nice treat.
We got off the bus at the east fork of the Toklat river to hike. A couple of hikers returning from down stream told us that there was a caribou herd on the river bottom about a mile down. We set out for that location but found that we had to "bushwack" our way since the river's meander was right against the bank and it was too deep and swift to wade easily. We thrashed along on the bank for several hundred yards until, finally, Dot fell into a brush covered, three foot deep, dry gully produced by a old water run. At that point, we decided to give it up and headed back towards the road. Along the way, we encountered a rock squirrel who seemed to enjoy having his photo taken and got another opportunity to get some up close photos of the red growth that reddened the mountain sides and tundra.
We hailed the next bus headed back to the Wilderness Center and continued the ride. We soon encountered another caribou, but much closer to the road in this case.
Very shortly - shortly enough that the caribou would seem to be in danger - we spotted two grizzly bears grazing on the tundra, probably eating blue berries or bear berries.
Ten or fifteen minutes further along, we saw this herd of Dall sheep really high on a cliffside. The line of white sheep presented a neat composition so I burned a few electrons on them.
We arrived at the Wilderness Center about 6:00PM and, after another great meal at the Salmon Bake, we went back to the hotel to repack for tomorrow's trip to Anchorage and flight home.