Denali: TheTundra Wilderness Tour

Thursday morning finds me sitting here close to Denali National Park gazing out at the mountains and trees silhouetted against a light grey sky which is beginning to show gaps in the clouds. The air is drier and cool this morning with the definite feel of fall. As I sip my coffee, I remember the wonders and details of yesterday spent in the park on the Tundra Wilderness Tour as I listen to the Nanana River in the distance. All else is quiet as day comes once again to the Alaska Wilderness.

We started our day early, loading the converted school bus at a little after six. Our driver/tour guide filled us in on the history of the park and explained a little of what we could expect. Denali was created to preserve the Dall sheep and it is a serious natural wildlife area with no interference with the animals. We left McKinley Chalet with high hopes of seeing wildlife and the mountain.

We were not disappointed. We saw caribou going in and coming out, large groups apparently beginning their migration. One group in the afternoon were up on a ridge line with their huge racks silhouetted against the sky. We also saw Grizzly bears, but not in large numbers since they are not herding animals. We did see two sows and two cubs in one sighting. We had several sightings of the stark white Dall sheep as they grazed high us the steep slopes of the mountains. One group were close enough to an overlook we stopped at that we could see them fairly well with no magnification. For most of the other sightings, the high powered lens on the video camera on the bus was helpful.

Our driver told us that a wolf sighting would be unlikely, but we did have one. We had a chance to watch two young and two older wolves together while the driver interpreted their behavior to us. T
hey actually looked like four dogs playing together. He explained that the younger were involved in establishing rank in the group during the interaction. One of the smaller ones better get a backbone or he is going to have a miserable life!

We did not see a lot of birds, but the driver pointed out a magpie and a merlin falcon for us. We also saw blooming fire weed whose foliage is beginning to turn a brilliant red.

Fall colors are just beginning to come to the wilderness. We saw the yellows of the low willows and the Balsam Poplars and the red of the dwarf birch.

The area has only seven types of trees: White spruce, black spruce, aspen, alder, birch, cottonwood, and willow. All except the spruce will soon be in vivid color.

McKinley disappointed us, but we were treated to a beautiful rainbow as we neared the summit of our trip as we enjoyed the view of new snow on the tops of the mountains in our view.




After returning to the chalet, we closed out our day at Cabin Night, a dinner theater activity where we had rousing entertainment and Alaskan food.

Today, hopefully, we will see some huskies at a training center before we board the Alaska Railroad for our trip into Fairbanks.