We took the shuttle bus in Denali National Park today to Eielson Visitor Center, which is about 67 miles into the park on the one and only road. Private vehicles are only allowed to go about 14 miles into the park, so this is the way to see the park’s wildlife and beauty.
It was a gorgeous sunny day, for a BIG change, and the
animals were happy to see some sun! We saw 12 Dall Sheep hanging out on the
mountainside, 45 caribou at several different locations, and two grizzly bears!
One of the bears was rolling around in the grass enjoying the sunny day!
The caribou are strange acting creatures, and they HATE the
pesky flies and insects that plague all deer. Every one we saw up close was
busy trying to rid itself of the bugs. On the way out of the park, one male
caribou with a HUGE rack of antlers was walking along the road, and we had to
follow him for about 15 minutes until he finally stepped off the side to eat
for a while. He kept stopping to look over his shoulder at us along the way –
it was funny! The animals are so used to the park busses that they ignore them
almost completely.
At Eielson Visitor Center, we caught a glimpse of some of
Mt. McKinley. Only about 30% of park visitors are so lucky, and hardly any ever
see the entire mountain, because clouds hang around it constantly.
It was a great wildlife viewing day!
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