The shuttle bus system in Denali is excellent. You pay your money and then can got off or back on anywhere you want in the park. So if you want to camp at one of the campsites in the park, you just throw all your gear in the back of the bus, and get off at the campsite. If you want to go hiking, then just get off wherever you want. And if all you do is want a one hour picnic beside a river, then just do the same. And when you want to get home, just stand beside the road until the next shuttle with a spare seat comes along, and jump on. But just don't miss the last shuttle home !!! On this occasion, I stayed on the bus all the way to Mile 53, and then back to the park entance, a total of about 6 1/2 hours. But there are 2 or 3 rest stops along the way, plus whenever you see wildlife the driver stops the bus and you can take photos etc, so it really is an excellent tour in itself. I had got as far as mile 29 last time I was here, but from mile 29 to 53 it gets so much more rugged and mountainous and interesting - Far more so than the first 29 miles, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey, and as you can see from the pics, we saw some great wildife
It was a while before our next wildlife spot, but this one was rather special - Right down in the valley Mike the bus driver spotted a couple of grizzlies "falling in love" !! Mike lives in Alaska, goes out in the wilderness on his time off, and has been driving the buses up here for over 30 years, and he admitted this was only the second time he had seen grizzlies "at it" !! So quite a rare sight, and they seem totally unfazed by us (and a number of other buses !) watching them from above. After a while we drove round the mountain and looked back, and they were still having fun - At one point we thought he was going to push her over the cliff edge !!
From there we drove on up through the park to mile 53, our turnaround point at Toklat River. Driving up through the park, I could really start to see some of the valleys and rock formations that I had seen from the air last week, and it really was spectacular even though, in the gloom and mist, there was not much colour to it. It is rather like Glencoe in Scotland which I have seen in clear sunshine in mid summer, and in white snow in mid winter, and also in mist and rain in autumn, and they are all so different, and yet all equally spectactular. It is the same here - Even in the gloom, it is equally as spectacular as in the sunshine, but just a different spectacular, While we took a break at Toklat River, we saw Dall sheep up on the rocks across the valley, while ground squirrels entertained us in the car park beside the river.
Turning back to retrace our steps towards the park entrance, the first wildlife we saw were - The loving bears !! And guess what - THEY WERE SOUND ASLEEP :-) So funny to see them lying on the grass dozing after all their exercise !!! Going on through the park, we started to see more and more Dall sheep, and one lot were right there beside the road, which is also quite rare - Normally they stay well out of harms way up on the rocky crags,where predators like bear and wolves can't get them. They do look a bit bedraggled though as they loose their thick winter coats for the summer season.
Apart from a few hawks searching for snow show rabbits (which we had also seen) and ground squirrels in the scrub, our last two sightings were of moose - One big bull who crossed the river beside us - At one point we lost him on the river bank below us, so the driver started to move off, when suddenly he burst out of the trees right in front of the bus and shot across the road and up the bank into the trees on the other side ! I think that is the first photo of the front end of a moose - They seem to run away very easily so I have lots of photos of moose bottoms in my collection !! Nice to have one of a head !! The second moose spotting was harder to see, and impossible to photograph, but it was a female moose with a calf, feeding down in the bushes way below the road. Lets hope this one survives all the local hungry bears, unlike the one in the car park yesterday. Apparently a lot of moose calves get taken by wolves because they are solitary, there is just the mum and a calf, so they often don't stand a chance. But it was interesting that Mike the driver reckons moose are by far the most dangerous animals out here - far more so than even bears. Bears will usually run away unless they have cubs with them, whereas moose will often attack, and use their front legs to stomp on you. This was what the mama moose was trying to do to the bear in the car park yesterday - Stomp on him !! Many people think moose are just ugly horses, and take risks, and end up paying the price.
Anwway, an excellent day travelling up through the park, and I am really pleased I went. Considering the whole 6 1/2 hour trip cost a total of $27.00, it was a bargain, and also demonstrated the best ways to get around, where to go and how to use the park and what you can expect when you get there. The more I see of this place, the more I like it.
Going over for a meal at Amy and Dave's again tonight, in the warmth of their RV !! And tomorrow I am heading south to Anchorage, and will be exploring new territory once again. Will spend a few days there before moving on down to the Kenai.
Pics of today are here https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/DenaliNP2?authkey=Gv1sRgCJn0hO-wqKrm1gE#
