Denali - Day 2

Today, the group went on an 8-hour narrated bus tour into Denali National Park. Unlike most US National Parks which strive to protect the visitors from the animals, Denali exists to protect the animals from the visitors. There is only one road into Denali (same road back out), and access is strictly controlled. Our day turned out to be a double bonus day. It is considered a “clean-sweep” when you see the 5 major animal groups in the park. We saw many more, making it a “grand-slam”. Our other bonus was seeing all on Mt. McKinley. Only 30% of the people visiting Denali see any of the mountain, less than half of them see the peak. As you can see from the picture, we saw it all, including the peak.

I saw the following animals:
* Grizzly Bears: 5 plus 2 cubs
* Dall Sheep: 4 herds
* Moose: 1
* Gray Wolf: A pack with 5 adults and 7 pups
* Caribou: 3 male, 3 female and 2 calves
* Golden Eagle: 3
* Arctic Ground Squirrels
* Marmots
* Red Squirrels

The park is vast and wild: six million acres with few established trails. It is a national treasure because it is a place where visitors may still see large animals at home in the wild. The bus program, which emerged in 1972 as an alternative to private car traffic in the park, minimizes visitor impacts, allowing many to experience a park that belongs to all of us without destroying it.