Denali National Park - Day 1

On our first day in the park we ventured onto the on/off bus to visit the park.  The bus travels almost 100 miles into the park, the only way to access the park by motorized vehicle.  Unfortunately, the recent snow in the park, not only forced us to move camp locations, but limited the accessibility of the park.  The bus is frequently asked to stop in order to view wildlife, in which the bus driver will remind the guests to be quiet,  it was hard to hear her over the sound of her squealing breaks and revving down engine.  However, we were able to see moose, caribou, ptarmigan, bears, and trees.

The driver was kind enough to point out a dall sheep carcass that she said had been eaten by a wolf sized coyote, but maybe it was just a big grey dog, or a WOLF.

One of the highlight of the strip was a classy New Yorka lady standing up and shouting, Stowwp!  It's anutha wunna those white birds!  We had already seen 3 ptarmigans, but she was pumped.

 
Unfortunately we were only able to take the bus about half way into the park, to the Toklat River stop.  From there we hiked another hour up the road to a lookout point, where we got another glimpse of the astounding Denali peak.  The bus ride back was long, but we saw more wildlife and enjoyed a different driver, who was subtle to say the least.  He informed us that we are entering the spruce tree forest, where we will see trees.  Especially a tree in the shape of a dinosaur, aka tree-rex.  And just before we thought it was interesting, we got to the hill, "that goes down".  A long day ended with a campfire and some relaxation.