July 6, 2009

July 6, 2009

The bus system at Denali is very complicated. You can take a wide variety of shuttle and tour buses into the park. The prices all vary depending how far you go. By staying at Teklanika River campground inside the park, we bypass much of the complexity. We hop on a “school bus” shuttle shortly after 8am heading farther into the park. The scenery is still very hazy from the smoke. Since the road is dirt and gravel, and we stop often to view wildlife, it takes several hours to navigate the 37 miles to Eielson Visitor Center. We see white dots on the surrounding hillsides that are supposed to be Dall sheep (a cousin of the Big Horn). We saw Dall sheep up close and personal in Jasper National Park in Canada so we can’t get excited. We also see one brown grizzly bear in the distance. We make brief stops at Polychrome Overlook and Toklat River Ranger Station. On a bench is a set of Caribou antlers. They are so heavy; I can't imagine walking around with them on my head.

At the Eielson Visitor Center we are bummed to find that Mt. McKinley is nowhere to be seen. The smoke is so thick we can’t even see the outline. We take a ranger-led hike to the ridge high above us, where we learn about the vegetation on the tundra. The tundra surprisingly has lots of flowers and wild berry vines growing in it. We also spot a cute Collared Pika (aka Rock Rabbit) living in the rocks. Back at the Visitor Center the sky clears up a little so we see some of the other snow-capped peaks in the Alaska Mountain Range. It looks like the scenery could really be magnificent if it was clear. From a photographic viewpoint this trip has really been a bust. It rained the whole week we spent driving the Alaska Highway; now it is dry and smoky. I haven’t taken a single wall-worthy or National Geographic covershot in several weeks. Depressing!

On the ride back to camp we did get the pleasure of seeing a half dozen more grizzlies. Compared to this morning’s bear, these were of the “California” variety, almost platinum blonde. We also saw several bright red foxes.

Having gotten a fill of wildlife I pay a little more attention to the return drive. The road passes through some fairly rough terrain and I start to get a little nervous at how close the bus comes to the edge of the dirt road. On most of the route the road is on a mountainside staring at the valley a thousand feet below. There are no guardrails and this dirt road looks like it could give way any minute. I fasten my seat belt but a lot of good it would do if we slipped off the edge.

Once back at Teklanika campground I am grateful we got a spot here. It cut 2.5 hours off the normal bus ride time.