We returned to our hotel feeling pretty deflated after out
aborted Gates of the Arctic trip. It was raining, so there was no chance for aurora. And, we
knew we would have to get up super early to make it to Denali for our 10 a.m.
tour. So, we decided to just pack it up and go to Denali that night.
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| Denali |
I called our Denali hotel (the Crow’s Nest Cabins – more on
them later) and asked to move my reservation one day forward. No problem.
Then, we checked into our hotel. Before we even made it in
the door, Scott tripped and did a nice face plant on the deck. Bruised and a
little bloody, but no major harm. Then, we schlepped our luggage to the room up
some stairs and down a narrow, slick walkway. I don’t think this hotel caters
to the cruise set. Not very accessible.
The room was cute, but freezing – see-your-breath freezing.
We located a small baseboard heater and turned it on and then left to head over
to Denali.
We swung by the Wilderness Access Center and changed our
scheduled trip to Eielson (which had been delayed an hour because of the
weather) to a trip to Wonder Lake. Then, we drove the road again – in snow –
and still didn’t see any animals.
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| Cold, foggy day |
Then, dinner and back to the room. It was still freezing.
Since there was no phone, we couldn’t call the front desk and we were too beat
to slog down there in the rain (plus, we doubted much could be done). We found
another heater and turned it on, took showers (at least the water was
reasonably hot) and got under the duvet. It took me hours to warm up and my
nose was cold all night.
The next morning, Scott wasn’t too happy. He went for coffee
while I got dressed and found out that the McKinley Chalet was offering unsold
rooms at $99 a night. We informed the Crow’s Nest that we were checking out a
day early because of the cold and that we would like a refund. The clerk told
us that the manager, who was coming in at 8:00 a.m., would have to make that
call. He promised she would call us. For insurance, I also sent her an email
explaining the situation and requesting a refund. I am still waiting for a
return call or email! I can understand (but not really) if they refuse a
refund. But, not even calling or emailing to tell us is rude. The hotel was
closing the next day, so there isn’t even anyone to talk to.
Then, we headed to Denali to catch our bus.
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| Tour bus |
Denali National Park and Preserve is six million acres of
wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the
relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy
mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,320 ft. Denali.
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| Braided river |
The Park’s website says “wildlife viewing along the Denali Park Road can never be
guaranteed,” but one might see brown and black bears, wolves, caribou, moose,
Dall sheep, arctic ground squirrels, red squirrels, foxes, marmots and a wide
variety of birds.
Because access after Savage River is limited to Denali buses, that’s the only
way to see the park. Because it was end of season, there was no crowd. We even
managed to get on an earlier bus.
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| Denali; Map: NPS |
Our driver, Andy, seemed friendly enough, but opened up by
explaining that it was his last day on the job and that he was sick of tourists
and couldn’t wait to get off. Wow. Sometimes I wonder if people think about
what they say.
Although billed as a shuttle bus, not a tour, the trip does
include narration. Andy shared quite a bit of information. The deal is that the
people on the bus have to help spot wildlife, yelling stop when we see
something. Most of our busmates didn’t seem interested – some were looking
inside the bus, some were sleeping. I am not sure why they paid about $50 a
person. But, spotting seemed to be up to Scott, Andy and me.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to spot. We saw a Spruce Grouse almost immediately.
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| Good sighting |
And, shortly after we saw some beautiful Willow Ptarmigan halfway through their transition from their summer to winter plumage.
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| Willow Ptarmigan on its way to pure white |
Denali was so different from any other time we have been
there under its blanket of snow.
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| The Mountain |
The clouds prevented us from seeing Denali
(most people NEVER see it – we have several times).
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| Denali, 2013 |
But, some areas were magical.
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| Winter painting |
At Toklat River, I saw some Gray Jays, which never seem to mind the weather.
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| Gray Jay |
And, we did glimpse a few Dall Sheep waaaaay up on a mountain ridge, but nothing else.
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| Sheep butts |
We had really hoped to see a huge Alaskan bull Moose or a Caribou with giant antlers. But, no luck. Antlers were all we saw.
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| Old antlers |
Wonder Lake was really quite lovely ...
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| Wonder Lake |
... it wasn’t snowy, but instead was a full-on Denali fall ...
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| Color! |
... all orange and red and evergreen ...
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| Water's edge |
I saw a Common Loon
cruising the lake ...
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| Immature Loon |
... and a yellow bird that was later identified as a Chipping Sparrow ...
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| Chipping away |
The foliage was gorgeous and the rain wasn’t too bad. But, Wonder Lake did live up to the joke we always use. In every promotional photo you ever see of Wonder Lake, there's a Moose in the middle.
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| Photo: Kenna Ward |
I have never seen a Moose there. So, it's Wonder Lake, as in, "I wonder where the Moose went."
Then, we began our trip back – through the snow. The
highlight was an absolutely gorgeous Red Fox with black/red/silver coloring.
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| Stunning Fox |
He
also had gorgeous brown eyes (not the gold you usually see).
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| Interesting eyes |
He ran alongside
the bus for quite awhile. Then, he ducked behind a hill and flushed some Ptarmigan out of a bush (I wish I had caught that on my camera).
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| Stalking |
Then, he posed
a little before we had to press on to a scheduled stop at a turnout just down
the road.
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| Quick stop |
Scott tried walking back to see if the Fox was still on the road ...
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| Snowy road |
... but it wasn’t.
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| Nothing to shoot |
Approaching Eielson, the road was pretty and snowy.
At Eielson, I got the driver to shoot my picture in front of
my favorite sign. I think this sums it up.
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| My motto |
We picked up some passengers whose bus had broken down, so
it was more crowded. But, these folks were interested in animals, so we had
more spotters. They had seen a Moose cow and calf and some close-up Dall Sheep
on their way in, but they hadn’t seen the Fox. Quite frankly, I’ll take the Fox. It was a beauty.
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| Love this! |
Just when we were ready to give up, we saw a Brown Bear. Not too close, but not too far.
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| Finally! |
It was snowing, so most of my pictures were blotchy. And, even though we were ahead of schedule (we had been all day because we weren’t stopping for animals), Andy suddenly decides we need to press on. He kept saying things like, “When Bears go in the thicket like that, they often stay for a long time,” and, “Since we can’t see the Bear, we must move on.” We could see the Bear and it wasn’t in the thicket. The passengers kept yelling at Andy to wait so we could photograph the Bear.
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| Not. In. A. Thicket |
He did for a while, but then his urge to finish his last day kicked in and off we went.
And, then we saw a Golden Eagle. We
never got close enough (or stopped the bus enough) for clear pictures and I
didn’t get any of it flying. But, its wingspan (about 4 feet) was impressive.
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| The golden nape is the identifier |
It was interesting to see Denali in the snow.
It was a combination of a dreary and disappointing day along with the realization that we are so privileged to visit such a majestic place and to see it in a way few people do.
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| Still happy |
We went back to our warm, $99-a-night room
and decided that we would blow off our reservation for another tour (this one
more pricey) the next day and drive south. Heck, we were getting a refund for Gates
of the Arctic, so leaving that money on the table wasn’t so bad.
I did learn a valuable lesson. During the summer,
reservations for the shuttle and tours (and everything) are vital because everything
sells out. But at the end of the season, we could have just walked up and
gotten on a bus. Next time, I won’t book ahead.
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| Winter's here! |
Still, we just couldn’t bear 11 hours on a bus in the snow
with no visibility and (probably) no animals. Plus, we wanted some aurora.
So, we were off toward the Kenai, hoping to make it to
Soldotna, but leaving our options open.
And, on the way, we saw a Caribou.
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| Not his best day! |
Trip date: September 10-21, 2015
