Another Denali Road Tour

Day 40  Sunday July 24, 2016    Denali National Park, Teklanika River Campground, site 36 day 3
0 miles driving

Today was our third day at the Teklanika River Campground.  We enjoyed our tour of the Park Road to Kantishna yesterday that we decided to go on the same tour again, but just to Wonder Lake this time.  It's only 7 miles shorter.  Although it is the same road, the lighting, sky, clouds, and animals may all be different.  Also, the day seems a little brighter.  Maybe there is a chance we could see Denali today.

As soon as we got to the bus stop at the campground entrance, the Wonder Lake bus arrived.  Our Tek pass we used yesterday was still valid for bus fare. 

The bus ride was similar to yesterday’s.  We had a different driver who was no where near as good as the one yesterday.  Today’s driver said very little and did not know a lot about the park or the animals.  He was young and didn’t have the enthusiasm or the knowledge yesterday’s driver had.   He was very good about accommodating us when wildlife was seen.

We saw lots of wildlife again, especially bears.  Saw four caribou, one moose, and a golden eagle in flight.  Also the usual ptarmigan.  Because the weather was a little better, at least at first, some of the scenery looked different due to different lighting and cloud cover.  The latter part of the trip and the return was very cloudy and even rained at times.  Some of the animal pictures were cropped to get them closer for your viewing pleasure.

When we got to Eielson Visitor Center, one of the peaks in the Alaska range was peaking out and we thought for sure we would see Denali before too much longer as the clouds cleared.  Didn’t happen.  Got cloudier and cloudier.  By the time we got to Wonder Lake we could see all clouds and even rain at the other end. 

No Denali for you!!!  It was disappointing because it was our last day at Denali.

This is some assorted scenery pictures selected for your viewing pleasure and their awesomeness.

Here's some photos of Wonder Lake the next day.

No loon today.

Note the rain at the other end of the lake.

 Marsha on the bus at Wonder Lake.

This was the end of the line for this trip.  We started at mile 29 at Teklanika.

Now for the critter shots.

This bear just stood in the road and took quite a while before he

decided to walk into the brush and let us go. 

He even sat down on the road for a while.

Another Arctic ptarmigan shot.  Alaska's state bird other than the mosquito.

A grizzly resting about 20 feet from the road.

The same sow with her 3 cubs we saw yesterday.

A golden eagle in flight.  There are no bald eagles in Denali. 

They like fish.  The glacial rivers do not have fish. 

Golden eagles eat ground squirrels.

Caribou

Bull moose

Fox running down the road, looking for ground squirrels running across the road.

Ugly caribou.  Was molting and looked all spotted.

This caribou was quite large and just stood there in this pose without moving.

He was about 1/4 mile away and this picture was cropped to see it in more detail.

Another bear just hanging out by the side of the road.

The sow with cubs again.