DAY 6 – June 23
Denali National Park
We slept in until about 7:30, letting the kids (and us) rest up from the long day yesterday. It was 50° in the RV when we got up. Tina made pancakes which we all enjoyed.
We discussed our options for the day and finally decided we should take advantage of the shuttle bus system again (and our Tek pass), only not go so far today. We made our way to the WAC, where the next bus, the 10:00 Eielson shuttle, had plenty of room. Our driver was talkative and informative. We saw three golden eagles flying near the road; one eagle had clearly made a catch. At the Teklanika rest stop, we saw several caribou by the river. There were a couple of Dall rams at Igloo, and we could see their curly horns well. Then at Cathedral Mountain we saw a huge flock of ewes and lambs – Julianna counted over sixty. After Sable Pass, we saw a grizzly digging busily, probably after a ground squirrel. We could see the dirt flying in the air behind him.
We left the bus at the Polychrome rest stop for a short hike. We started by walking east on the road, then headed to the back side of the mountain where there is a small pond or lake. We found wolf scat and moose (or caribou) tracks, and heard ground squirrels chirping alarms from their burrows. There were moose droppings in the area too.
Julianna thoroughly enjoyed this hike, and was eager to explore. Noah was hesitant, afraid we would lose our way. (He perked up later when we had to walk through some muddy patches in the willow bushes.)
At Julianna's request, we had lunch near the lake. We then hiked back up to a higher point which turned out to be at the back of the rest area. I took some pictures to stitch for a panorama, then we tried to catch an east-bound bus. Two full buses went by, so we got on a west-bound bus for Toklat. This gave us almost an hour more of viewing opportunities and sure seats, although the bus was crowded. I was surprised no one offered to change seats so we could sit with the kids; we ended up with the kids on the very back seat together, and Tina and I further ahead with aisle seats each.
At the rest stop at Toklat, there was a bear across the river. It was too far away to see clearly, except with the spotting scopes there at the rest stop. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the river too. Also at Toklat, we ran into the Eielson bus we had ridden earlier. This bus had plenty of room, so we switched back to it.
On the way back, we saw a couple of foxes playing, and an owl chick in a tree. There were more Dall sheep and caribou along the way too. We enjoyed visiting with a couple from Boston; the woman was kind enough to let Julianna tell her about the Junior Ranger program. (One of the activities in the booklet is to introduce yourself to a stranger and tell them about Junior Rangers.) For the third day in a row, it started to rain about 4:00.
We returned to the RV for dinner. The kids and I attended a ranger program on arctic ground squirrels, while Tina cleaned dishes and did laundry. The ranger program included a "Jeopardy"-like game; Julianna was captain of our team, and our team won!
Next: Day 7, Denali National Park to Houston
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