Denali

Yesterday we got out of bed at: 4:30am to catch a bus at 6am into Denali. Ended up being a 13 hr. bus trip. We had a dog walker get Bud twice during the day.  He was sure glad to see us when we got home.  It was a long day but very fruitful. The day was beautiful it was 82 degrees at the peak of the day.  All the Alaskans were amazed at the great weather. We saw Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Caribou, Grizzly Bears, ptarmigan (Like a grouse, Alaska state bird) and other little creatures.

We drove the entire route into Denali, there is only one road and closed to individual vehicles.  You must take a bus to go the entire 92 miles.  There are a few rest stops along the way and a lodge, where we had lunch, at the end of the road.  The bus driver was very good a spotting animals and stopping so everyone could get pictures from the bus.

One of the animals we came upon were a momma moose and here baby.

Another thing we were hoping to see was the top on Denali.  That doesn't happen very often so we were very excited to catch a view early.  Good thing we did because as the day went on the clouds began to cover the mountain top and you could only catch a glimpse once in a while.

This park is enormous and we only got to see a little piece of it.  From forest in the beginning to tundra's later in the trip.  The landscape ever changing.

 

The most sightings we had were of the grizzly bear.  I think in all we had 12 sightings of grizzly bear throughout the day.

A couple of sightings of caribou.

 This may be proof that reindeer can fly......

ptarmigan,

 

The sheep were a pretty good distance away so not a very good picture.

 

 

More pictures of the day.

Denali

This was one great day of sight seeing.  Loved it.

Still Livin' the Dream.......