Denali

Today was a beautiful day…again.  A perfect day to visit Denali.  We boarded a bus at the lodge and spent 5.5 hours riding on a school bus type bus thru the Denali wilderness.  

We had a perfect view again.  Our driver said we were among the fortunate few because not too many tourists see Denali.  He said there is about one week a year where the weather cooperates.  Last week he drove 5.5 hours with disappointed folks.  The sky was dark and it was cold and raining.

So, the first thing we saw was the official bird of Alaska, the willow ptarmigan. A family of these birds were on the side of the road.  What’s unusual about these birds are the fact that they are brown till winter.  They turn white in the winter. Not sure how that happens but it is interesting.

Next we saw a caribou running on the side of the road.  It was like driving thru one of those zoos in your car but this was real.  This thing was huge and it crossed right in front of us.

There were dall sheep also but too far away to take pictures.

The last thing we saw was the prize, a big grizzly bear.  He was just hanging out eating berries.  Our guide said they will gain 100 pounds before they hibernate.  Seems like a pretty good system to me.  Just sleep off the winter.

After a stop in the visitor center and of course the gift shop, we boarded a bus back to the lodge.

Thankfully our tour guide Jeff managed to get our rooms swapped while we were gone.  This one is much better and most importantly doesn’t stink.

****Ok, I have a very tacky comment about Jeff.  He has been nice and helpful but he is a little odd.  Also, we noticed on the train he spray paints his bald spot black.  It doesn’t hide the spot, it just makes him look weird (see last photo).  I wasn’t going to post this but it helps to partially explain his weirdness.****

Jane and I had a nice relaxing glass class too.  She is going to mail the finished product after she fires them.  That was a lot of fun.

And this completes our visit to Denali.