Day 8, Sep 6, 2018: DENALI NATIONAL PARK again
SUMMARY: Murky weather, some wild life viewing,
Evening drive to Savage river before rain started to pelt.
We had shuttle tickets for today also.
We had seen awesome views of Denali the previous day. We had read
reviews that people forfeited their tickets and did something else on
their 2nd day. We thought we will get some views of
Wildlife. Also we had paid $55 pp for the tickets , why waste it? So
decided to go along with our plans. Now after the timing I read that
Somebody had returned their 2nd day tickets after the 1st
day of great shuttle ride and had the money refunded. If I had known
the option I don't know what I would have done. Maybe do some hikes
near the Visitor center. And then drive Slowly to the Savage River
And do some hikes there too. Anyways We went on the same Shuttle
ride again.
It was a later start only at 6:45 am as
they had scrapped the earlier shuttle. And Mike was again our driver
We sat in the same seats.
Saw some wild life
Grizzly and cub
Dall sheep up on the cliffs
What a difference good weather makes. But at least on the inward journey, there was scenic beauty, albeit without the presence of Denali... return journey had major parts totally sceneryless because of dense clouds
We
halted at the same stops
POLYCHROME OUTLOOK:
TOKLAT REST STOP:
EIELSON VISITOR CENTER:
Before Eielson they announced the
trails are closed because a grizzly and cub had just been seen at the
entrance where buses stop. The grizzlies had then jumped into the
nearby bushes but the rangers did not know precisely where they were.
They had put orange cones for restricted areas and 2 rangers were
out. There were still some clueless people munching their
apple/sandwich, stepping into the forbidden territory!. Rangers asked
them to eat either in their bus or inside the center, not attract the
grizzly displaying food!
trails closed sign below...
BIG 5 OF DENALI... BEAR, DALL SHEEP. MOOSE, WOLF, CARIBOU
Just before we had to get back on our
bus, the grizzly decided to come out of the bushes and started
moving. We caught some shots in our video before we had to run back
to our shuttle.
We rode on
went up to wonder lake
WONDER LAKE:
Denali hidden from view...
this time
Mike had the bus at the bus stop near the rest room.
No room for
confusion. On the way back the whole scenery was wrapped by thick
gray clouds, we could not see any of the pretty hills and meadows we
had enjoyed the previous day. Of course the whole day, Denali was
also hidden... if we had not seen it in all its glory the previous
day, it would have been so disappointing.
If anything, this day served to
highlight how unbelievably AWESOME the previous day had been! Sad to
think majority of visitors 70-80% face only this!
Saw some wildlife
Male moose here...
2 foxes were playing right near our bus
on the road. It was fun to watch wild life this close.
A tour bus ahead
An announcement was coming in to the driver's radio, 3/4 mile perimeter around Polychrome pass was closed for visitors because of grizzly activity.
We saw some wildlife
Caribous
GRIZZLIES
Thick clouds were enveloping the scenery
Visitor center
After returning to the car park, we
went for a drive to Savage river.
Rain started pelting , so we cut it
short and returned to our hotel. The glaciers visible from our room
window were not to be seen; we would not even have known they were
there if we had not enjoyed them the previous days.
We slept off, very grateful for the
good weather days we have had!
Report of our Day 9 is here:
OUR VIDEO LINKS:
Denali national park Day 2:
Denali National Park Wildlife:
No comments:
Post a Comment