North to Alaska, Part 2

OK, I just have to do this. Every time I think about our vacation or write the title for one of these postings, the old Johnny Horton song and that silly John Wayne movie come to mind. If you would like to have a song in your head that just won't leave for the entire day, please click the play button below. Actually, now that I've even mentioned it, you are probably doomed to singing it to yourself all day long.

Now that we have this out of the way—on with our story. Warning: One unpleasant picture below!

On the third day of our trip, we traveled into Denali National Park for a Wilderness Tour. There is essentially one road that reaches into the park nearly 100 miles. We experienced the first 53 miles of that road and all of the sights along the way, then returned the same way. The mode of transportation was what you might think of as a school bus, although all of the seats had been replaced with more comfortable coach seats. The driver provided narration of the sights and information about the park throughout the trip. Because we were so early in the season, we didn't see the meadows filled with as much green vegetation and flowers as will be available to travelers later in the season. Nevertheless, the vistas are remarkable and beautiful.

Here are the two of us at a rest stop along the way. We were obviously continuing to have a great time. The weather was very nice, and by the end of the tour, we didn't need our jackets.

You may know that Mount McKinley (highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet) can be difficult to see. They have something called the 30% club—only 30% of the visitors to the park ever actually see the mountain. It is so big that it strongly influences the weather near it, and so it is very often shrouded in clouds. This was our best shot, and you can get some idea of the interesting way that clouds sometimes layer above the peak. I guess you could say that we got to see the lower third of the mountain. I was glad even for that. We were told that there were numerous climbers already on the mountain. Stories about climbing Mount McKinely can be found in lots of places. Some folks die every year making the attempt. The various base camps, methods for climbing, and stories about successes and failures are interesting topics.

We did see quite a bit of wildlife. A sampling follows. This is a ptarmigan, which is Alaska's state bird. They were transitioning from their winter white to their summer brown plumage, and the males were often stationed at the very tops of spruce trees attempting to declare a territory and seek out mates. They are fairly large—about the size of our local pheasants.

Unpleasant picture time! We rounded a bend in the road, and the driver spotted this fresh carcass on the shoulder of the road. A Dall sheep had been killed and partially devoured by an unknown predator. It could have been coyotes, wolves, or a grizzly. (By the way, grizzly bears can run at about 40 miles per hour, so don't try to outrun one. This is fast enough for them to overtake a sheep.) The driver thought the kill was most likely by coyotes or wolves, since a bear would probably have dragged it away from the road. On our return trip, the carcass had been moved back away from the road by park rangers.

Soon thereafter, we rounded another bend and spotted a large group of Dall sheep right on the road. Animals in the park are very used to the buses and usually show no concern as long as people are not outside the vehicles. So, we would just slide our windows open and shoot all the pictures we wanted. This was a so-called bachelor herd (all rams) who evidently band together for protection when they are not fighting each other at other times of the year for harems of females.

At another of our rest stops there was a visitors center and some antlers were on display. I'm holding caribou antlers here.

Most of the time, the animals we saw were at quite a distance. Here, for example, is the only grizzly bear we saw. If you double click on the image below, you can maybe get a better look.

The driver had a long range movie camera that he could use to bring the images closer and then present on drop-down displays inside the bus.

We also saw two lynx. One was busy chasing a hare, but this one was napping in a secluded spot. He would occasionally stretch and roll around just like his domestic cat relatives do in the sunshine. They were quite large, much bigger than the bobcats we see in Wisconsin or even in Iowa.

So, that was what our day in Denali was like. We concluded the day with a beverage and nice dinner at the Chalets.

On the following day, we boarded motor coaches for our trip to Seward, where we were to board the Zaandam for our cruise to Vancouver. Honestly, it was a long day, even though the coaches were quite comfortable. Scenery along the way continued to be of pleasant, and we passed through a number of interesting small communities. At lunch time, we were in Wasilla. No, we did not see Sarah or her bus or have to listen to her awful comments about gotcha questions, lame-stream media, or made up history lessons. No one in Alaska ever seemed to bring her up as a topic. I didn't sense an awful lot of pride about her connections with the state. The city was really rather nice, and we had a good lunch there overlooking a lake and the mountains in the distance.

Outside the restaurant where we had lunch, there was a display about the Iditarod dogsled races, which was hosted by Kelley Griffin, a Wasilla musher. (Click on her name for more information.) Kelley was seeking donations for her next attempt at the race. I recall it costs something like $30,000 in total to participate. She had a couple of different sleds on display, one an old, heavy wooden sled, and another (in picture) of a modern aluminum sled. The sleds are equipped with covers that hold all kinds of supplies.

The two dogs she had with her were interesting. The image of a furry husky is not really very accurate. Dogs are chosen and bred for endurance, strength, and speed, and any breed will do as long as it meets those criteria. Indeed, they told us that the dogs are usually a kind of "musher's mutt." They were both very friendly. They don't want lots of fur, because the dogs get too hot when racing. If it is too cold, the mushers will put coats on them.

Toward the end of the day, it turned rainy. The sight of the Zaandam as we pulled into Seward was most welcome after the long bus ride.

Stay tuned for part 3 of this saga.