This tour was supposed to be about a 12 hour journey, but with all the recent rain, part of the road to the Backcountry Lodge washed out in a mudslide. Instead, we had about an eight-hour ride into and out of the park...only about 70 of the 92 miles of road.
Wildlife was abundant, our driver/guide was full of great information, and the scenery was amazing. Here's a gallery of our day (sorry I don't have a fabulous zoom).
Mama moose
Mama moose's ass
Three caribou
Same as reindeer, except they don't fly
A dall sheep (no, I didn't take this picture - all of the sheep we saw were tiny white dots on the hillsides way over our heads)
Bear tracks
Polychrome pass - lots of iron, copper and other ores in these hills
Tundra rose
Possible fireweed
Colors are already changing
Mama grizzly bear
And two cubs
C'mon, cubs!
Denali
It's a big fucking mountain
Quilt mural of Denali in the visitor center
Adult male caribou
Big mama moose
Itty-bitty ground squirrel
Because I'm not a great photographer, and the clouds were a bit on the heavy side today...here's a professional picture of Denali. Mount Brooks is on the left, but the rest of it is Denali.
Since there's no cell service or telephones or anything up there (in fact, the wilderness is managed very little...) the bus drivers let each other know about upcoming wildlife with hand signals.
Hand held up - as in saying, "hey" means there's a moose around.
Hand held in a "Hook 'em Horns" fashion means there's a caribou nearby.
Moving your index finger in a circle like you're trying to speed something up means Dahl sheep are ahead.
Hand held with fingers curled like a claw indicates a bear.
Forefinger and thumb in the shape of an L means look out for a lynx.
Three fingers held up like a W means there's a wolf ahead.
Gesturing like you're pulling your nose out from your face means there's a fox nearby.
So we did see the big four: bear, caribou, moose, and sheep. Pretty good day!
When Joe holds up three fingers like a W, he is ordering three more beers.
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