Monday 19^th August

With other grannies and grandpas and persons beyond carrying great weights on their backs, I take a bus ride into the Park.  The one road penetrates about 85 miles into the park.  It took 15 years to build from about 1910 onwards.  Though it is constantly being improved (but not lengthened).  The tour buses take us oldies to various points along the way, depending on our endurance for sitting on a US School bus.  I chose an 8 hour round trip, to Mt Eielson.  My fellow tourists were a group from a Princess Cruise – I had not realised previously that some of the cruises bring people on a bus tour leg this far inland.  And three wonderful English girls loving their travels.   And a family of three – mum, dad and 3-4 year old girl.  The father’s relentless (loud)  didacticism – towards wife and daughter -  had everyone on the bus wanting to adopt the pair of them and give them a better life.  Quite an extraordinary display.

These tours have two objects – to see the magnificent scenery, including, hopefully, Mt McKinley from Eielson, and to see wildlife.  We did not expect to see McKinley on this day, as it was overcast. But we were not disappointed in the wildlife.  Bears, caribou, wild fox, ptarmigan, all obliged.  When someone on the bus spotted something, the driver would stop and turn off the engine.  We had to stay in the bus, not even put hands holding cameras out of the windows, and not speak.  Animals are not to be disturbed.  When Mumma Bear and her two cubs moved up towards the road and played about there for a while, the bus waited.  No attempt is ever made to hurry the animals off the road. It was Mumma Bear who got sick of waiting for the cubs, and headed off up the hillside, leaving them to follow if they would.  (They did).  Then the bus was able to move on.  

Mumma Bear leads cubs up to cross the road.  Bears are out now gorging berries in preparation for the winter.  

Mumma Bear gets tired of waiting and sets off up the hill...leaving cubs to follow if they will..

Beautiful red fox ... see the tail!

 Caribou out grazing...

Eielson was the vantage point that very early visitors to the Park came in the 1920s, in the hope of seeing McKinley.  Not everyone is lucky.  There is a 30% club – you can get a certificate – of people who do see it.  More often than not, it is shrouded in cloud.  I felt very privileged to have not only seen it but landed on it a couple of days earlier, as we did not see it on this trip.

This is where Denali is, but cloud obscures it.

Point the camera anywhere, and the shot is worth taking...

 

 The weather has been overcast and a bit rainy all day.  I have been wondering how Bede and Soph and doing, traipsing about and crossing braided rivers in these conditions.