Monday-July 10-Day 20-Denali: Rugged Beauty !

 For the first time since we left home, we set our alarms for 5 AM, so we could make our 7:30 reservation for the Denali Wilderness Tour. None of us slept very well, knowing we had a deadline to get up. My phone ringing at almost 2 AM did not help our sleep either!  It was almost 6 in Lancaster County!  There was no message left on my cell so I do not know who it was, but I do know it was local number  to our home area. (Please do not call or text before 11 AM Eastern Daylight time!😕We are 4 hours behind you!) But we all went back to sleep for a few more hours!

We packed up our home and made it to our reservation on time.  We boarded an old green school bus. At the end of the paved road, Mile 15, a park ranger boarded the bus to welcome us, and give us a few instructions.

Denali National Park is 6.2 million acres and is a true eco system.  The food chain is intact. Man does not disturb it.  They never feed the animals, no matter how bad the winter.

No new animals are introduced, or taken out.

 Nature takes care of itself, just the way our Creator intended.

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We were 4 of the few who spoke English on the tour.  

We had no sooner hit the Park Road than we saw this yearling moose grazing right outside our bus window, along the road.  Some ladies on the bus kept calling it a horse.  😕

About a half mile down the road we saw this cow moose and her twin calves. The cows come down into the valley to birth  their young because the likelihood of Grizzlies getting them is greatly minimized.  Only 1/3 of the calves survive, because of the grizzlies preying on them for food.

It was a cloudy day so the pictures are not as bright as they could be, but the beauty we saw today was again breathtaking!
Below is a good example of a braided river, as explained in a previous post.

Rushing little streams splashed and gurgled through the park.

In addition to enjoying the rugged beauty of the landscape, we also  watched for wildlife. The first we saw was a dall sheep. 

They are well-hidden as they climb around on the rocky crags and crevices of the high mountain peaks.

 

We rode in the bus for the best part of eight hours, with several rest stops along the way. And all that time we were passing high mountain peaks,  and lush green meadows.
 I wish you could see the beauty we saw!

This is called the polychrome range, meaning many colors, although it is difficult to see here.

And this is part of the polychrome pass.....a bit hair-raising, to say the least!  We were so glad to know our driver and guide, Tim, had 19 years of experience! And it was also restful to know that our God had it all under control!

This pass was several miles long, with quite a few sharp hairpin turns, no guard rails, and just gravel under the wheels!

Although not planned this way, I thought this pic was very appropriate the way it turned out!😃

Taking a break from sitting.

These polychrome mountains were just so beautiful, I took pics from various angles.

Caribou laying down in the dry part of the river bed.

No matter how much melted snow and spring rains descend from the mountains, the rivers never get full from bank to bank.

So many lovely roadside flowers!!
These are wild sweet pea and northern oxytrope.

The back end of a caribou who was grazing along the road.

Three grizzlies grazing....a sow and her two yearling cubs.
Only 20% of their intake is meat.  They eat a lot of ground squirrels, if they can catch them!

Zoomed in

The vastness is hard to comprehend!

There were tours of several lengths we could have chosen for today.  We chose the eight hour trip to and from Eielson.

This little ground squirrel was begging for food at the picnic area.

Some lady took a year to  make this intricate quilt of Mount McKinley, (which name was recently changed to Denali Mountain). It is  a beautiful piece of artwork displayed at the Eielson Visitors Center.!

then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee....

How Great Thou Art!  

We saw these caribou high up on the top of a mountain. Our guide said they go up there to get away from the flies.  The insects are especially hard on the caribou as their skin is thinner than the other large animals out there.  The flies lay their eggs in the nose of the caribou.

This is one of the hairpin turns!

On our return trip, the caribou was still grazing along the road, only this time he showed us his beautiful rack instead of his backside!

Just for fun!

These moose horns were heavy!
And a bull carries two of these around all fall!

We even saw the state bird--the ptarmigan.
 She had her hubby and chicks with her too!

We were on the other leg of the S curve, when I took this shot of the bus in front of us.

The staff were so helpful!

We had such a wonderful day, again drawing our minds and hearts to our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ! We were a bit disappointed that we did not get to see Denali Mountain, because of the weather.
 It is so big, it creates its own weather system, and only about 30% of the people who come here are privileged to see it. But it can be seen from other places in the state, so maybe we will still see it.

After we returned from the tour, we drove about an hour south to Cantwell,  where we had supper and settled in for the night.