Little Red Riding Hood

A fabulous day touring in Denali Park. Got up at 4 am and went back to bed until 5 am. Left the campground at 6 am and took the 6:30 bus with members of our group. It was an eight hour tour on a school bus, but not as uncomfortable as I remembered. The wildlife viewing started off slow and turned incredible. The day was cloudy and warm and we drove on the park road and finally saw a snowshoe hare and then a porcupine sitting alongside the road. Later we saw a blonde grizzly sleeping in a meadow and then some Dall sheep grazing on a hillside. Finally we saw a large grizzly sow with two cubs, but they were far away and we were getting discouraged. The scenery along the road is incredible and on a clear day the views of Denali (the mountain) are beyond imagination, but today the mountain was completely covered by clouds and we got to the far end of our trip at the new Eielson Visitor Center and admired the building which is built into the side of the hill and all windows face Denali. Upon leaving we saw a wolf running up the hill across from us and as you can see in the photo, he had made a kill. Looks like the rear half of a small moose in his mouth. He ran way up the hillside and looked back at us a few times. I know the picture is disturbing, but it is nature and true. The ride home was a huge success as we came upon the three grizzlies again and they walked right up to the bus. We saw more sheep, caribou and everything but moose. Later we went to the sled dog demonstration and were able to play with the dogs. In the winter they work in the park hauling supplies and patrolling where vehicles cannot go. They had a team pull a sled on wheels around a path and all the dogs wanted to be picked to be part of the team. There was such barking and jumping and the lucky five were brought out and the others seemed disappointed. Finally got home around 5 pm and ready for a good night's sleep.