Long day yesterday, but WOW! Denali National Park is amazing! We got up yesterday morning at 5:20 and left for Denali (a 10-minute drive from our hotel) at 6. Our bus left for the back of Denali at 6:45 a.m. sharp - it was an 11-hour trip to the back of Denali (at least as far back as you're allowed to go - 88 miles) and back. To say that the view and landscape were amazing is true, but I can't say more so than all of the other beautiful things we've been seeing around Alaska. Maybe if Mount McKinley had been out, it would have been even more breathtaking than what we've already seen (although I doubt it), but the chances of seeing all of Mount McKinley are slim at best. We did get to see most of it, the bottom and the top, but not all. It's quite a sight.
What I found most interesting about Mount McKinley is the fact that, right while we were looking at it, 287 people were attempting to climb it and reach the summit. We also found out that 4 people have been killed already this year climbing it (climbing "season" obviously is very short). I guess it's a very difficult mountain to climb. The fee to attempt to climb it, as far as what you have to pay to the state of Alaska, is $285.
Back to Denali National Park. What was most amazing about Denali is the wildlife you see - sometimes literally right next to your bus. We saw a moose, several caribou (one trotted in front of our bus for 1-1/2 miles), an alpha male wolf watching 5 pups, a couple of golden eagles, several dall sheep (right next to us on the mountain) and 8 grizzly bears. Amazing! Duane got some absolutely fantastic pictures of a caribou and a dall sheep - looks like the animals posed just like a professional photograph. Hopefully, he'll get a couple of these photos posted one of these days. They do a great job there with allowing you to see the wildlife, but now allowing the wildlife to get accustomed to humans. No one goes to the back of Denali on your own unless you backpack (which requires taking a course and getting permission). They want the animals to retain the fear of humans and yet allow humans to see them up close. They do it well. One reason they want the animals to retain their fear is for humans' protection. When you go backpacking, the only protection you have against grizzlies is your voice - so they do not want grizzlies to get accustomed to that noise which would enable them to ignore it. At this point, they are still afraid of a human's voice. It's working well for them - they have not had anyone killed by a grizzly on that park ever.
I have to thank my dad and Duane for one special part of the day. Toward the end of the bus ride, our driver (and tour guide) asked me if I had anything planned for Saturday - he needed a wildlife spotter on the bus for him. I'm guessing I spotted about 2/3 of the wildlife we saw (the driver spotted the rest). I'm not saying this for bragging rights. The truth is, it's all because I used to go wildlife watching with my dad and now I go hunting with Duane and family. So, I have them to thank; but, it was fun that the guy was impressed with this "lady from Iowa" who spotted so much. The other part of the equation is that 99% of the people on the bus have no idea what they're looking for and no idea how to go about spotting wildlife. As a matter of fact, once you spotted anything, you had all you could do to even explain to them where to find the animal. Sometimes, they never did get it. Thanks for Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota home roots and hunting.
It was a wonderful day filled with exciting and amazing sights (the wildlife), but it was a long day. We got done with our tour of the park at 5:45 p.m., packed up the bike and hit the road back for Anchorage. Duane made good time and, even with a little construction, got us back to Pastor Dave's at 10:15. We were pooped!
Jesse picked us up this a.m. at Pastor Dave's and he and Duane are organizing our equipment for salmon fishing. We already have our licenses and hope to leave with Jesse's friend, Scott, for Scott's hot spot for salmon. It's the late end of king salmon, but we're hoping to catch a few. We'll see how that goes. I'm blogging at a bagel shop we found and enjoying a cup of coffee while they chase around (I like this assignment).
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
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