|
Not long after setting up our camper, we took Sedona for a walk. A vehicle stopped behind us, and I heard a voice ask "Is that Sedona?". Who would have thought that a reader of this journal would actually be in the same campground, and driving the park road on the same day as us? As big as Alaska is, it's truly a small world! (It was wonderful meeting you both in person. Please drop me an email. I hope you had as wonderful a drive as we did!) We took a walk down to Riley Creek, but only stayed for a short time. There were bright orange signs posted everywhere warning of grizzly bear activity in the area. Not in the mood for any altercations with hungry bears, we made our way back to the camper, cranked up the generator (you're only permitted to run it for four hours each evening and two hours each morning), made dinner and plugged a movie into the DVD player. (Sure sounds like we were roughing it, doesn't it?) We went to bed early so we could be at the Savage River checkpoint as close to 6am (the earliest you could enter the park) as possible. The drive takes, on average, 10-12 hours. When we crossed over Savage River (first picture below), it was still so dark that I had to use my tripod and set a long exposure to get a photograph. I love Savage River and knew I'd get a better shot as we exited the park. Steve and I have driven to mile 30 (Teklanika) countless times, but have only gone further into the park once before - and that was in July when my sister-in-law Diane was visiting us. We were really looking forward to this opportunity to explore the park at our leisure - being able to stop and get out and take photographs when the urge hit us. A few miles after crossing the Teklanika River bridge, we spotted some Dall Sheep high up on a cliffside. We noticed that they seemed a bit skittish - all looking in the same direction, further down the mountain. Only a few seconds later, we saw a wolf race up the mountainside toward them. They scattered as this lone wolf got closer, and the wolf zeroed in on one sheep, while the others took off for the peak. I was relieved to see that the lone sheep ran fast enough to elude the wolf, and it disappeared over the top of the mountain with the rest of the flock. The wolf made its way to the top, looking in several directions before making his way back down the mountain. He was obviously stressed about the fact that he lost sight of the sheep. Just before we hit Toklat River, we came upon two sheep standing on the craggy rocks above us. They were much closer than the other sheep we had seen, and seemed quite content to have so many people taking photographs of them. We stayed for about 10 minutes before continuing on our journey. The fall foliage was awesome, but it was obvious that we were past the color peak. Many bushes and trees had already lost a lot of leaves, and the colors were a bit muted. It didn't matter; in the early morning light, everything looked brilliant and colorful. After July's trip, and the many shades of green throughout the park, the oranges, reds, and yellows were a treat for the senses. In the Toklat River area, we came upon a pack of wolves. One lone black wolf seemed to enjoy running through the brush, as the others seemed content to take an afternoon nap. I took a few photos, but without a longer lens it was nearly impossible to capture anything substantial. Nevertheless, Steve and I took turns watching them through his binoculars. As we got closer to Wonder Lake - our final destination - the cloud cover moved downward and mist shrouded the peaks surrounding us. The road on this final stretch can be uncomfortably narrow - especially if you're the one on the cliff side of the vehicle! Fortunately, our drive deeper into the park kept me closest to the rock walls. Coming back out was an entirely different story! We stopped a few times to stretch our legs. Sedona enjoyed the opportunity to sniff new smells, and at times she even pulled her tail tightly between her legs. Perhaps she smelled the markings of a wolf? Or a bear? I suppose we'll never know what caused her to spook from time to time. The overcast skies and intermittent rain didn't put too much of a 'damper' on the drive. To the contrary; the low light and mystical fog made the colors seem more vibrant, and I really enjoyed the drive! At Wonder Lake, the rain fell in drizzles. It was chillier there and I was thankful that we each had packed a heavier fleece and raingear. As we made our way back - along the very high, and very narrow, road - I was terrified by the steep drop-offs and the lack of driver courtesy. We were told at the visitor center to yield to any vehicle on their way out of the park, and yet those vehicles coming into the park must not have heard those instructions. I have no clue how we actually got two vehicles passing on some portions of those roads. I swear the tires of our truck were on the very edge of the gravel roadway! I closed my eyes many times - waiting for the awful tumble down into the valley. Thankfully it never came. We saw a lot of cars gathered at the Toklat River. We stopped to see what the commotion was all about, and I grabbed my camera with my long lens. A park ranger was present and was explaining to the many onlookers that a pack of wolves had attacked a caribou. The caribou managed to toss the alpha female into the air with its huge antlers. The pack retreated, but stayed near enough to watch the caribou. The caribou was injured (I believe to a front and rear leg) and hunched down in the middle of the dry riverbed. We didn't stay around long enough to witness any of nature's carnage, and I'm glad. While I understand that this is what happens in the natural world, I don't have any desire to watch it occur. I don't know what happened to that caribou. Perhaps it limped to safety? I'll believe the best rather than imagine the worst. We saw several families of bears foraging for roots and berries. They were higher up on the slopes, but I was able to get some images using my long lens. I would have loved a closer encounter, but I'm satisfied that we were graced with the sightings. Just after the Polychrome area, much to our surprise, we encountered two Dall sheep grazing on the roadside. Even after many of us got out of our vehicles, they still remained where they were. What a great experience to be so close to one of nature's creatures! Another of nature's creatures who seemed to enjoy running across the road, standing up on its hind legs watching us pass, and having its picture taken - was the arctic ground squirrel. With cheeks stuffed full, they seemed to smile at us as we drove by. While there was no sighting of "the Great One" (Denali - or Mt. Mckinley, as she is known to many) while we were in the park, she did make a brief appearance as we made our way home. What a wonderful way to end our weekend! The beautiful colors of the Tanana Valley were also a sight to behold. I so love autumn in Alaska!
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve
and I left for Denali National Park just after 1pm on Saturday afternoon.
Upon arriving at the park, we checked in, got our briefing on what
the 'rules' were for driving our car into the park, and picked up
our reservation tag for our campsite at Riley Creek Campground.
We learned a valuable lesson about making reservations at the campgrounds
in the park. We learned to tell the reservation clerk that our camper
is more than 31' long (it's 29'), so that we won't run into the
problem we had trying to put a huge camper onto a small site. With
our tires backed up as far as they could go against the parking
block, the tongue of our camper was nearly in the road. It was too
tight a fit, and we had to get creative to fit our truck on the
same spot. We talked to some other campers in the park and they
told us that they had to learn their lesson the hard way too. Next
year, if we win the Road Lottery, we're going to request a large
site!
