The Big One - Denali

Denali National Park is our destination for today. Denali’s name was once changed to Mt McKinley and the people were up in arms over this. They fought to have the name changed back to it’s original name and won. We are scheduled and have our tickets for the 8 am shuttle to the newly built, 9 million dollar, Eielson visitor center that is 66 miles into Denali NP. This trip is an 8 hour round trip shuttle bus ride that is mostly on gravel roads that is full of twists and turns right on the cliffs edge. Denali, with its 6 million, virtually untouched by man acres is left in its natural state for us to enjoy a glimpse of nature at its finest. The Dall Sheep,  the Grizzly bear , Eagles, Caribou, and Wolves along with many other animals             are allowed to live their lives without the influence of man. We, the humans, are the guest here in their home. The weather here can have extreme changes. We experienced sun, clouds, rain, hail, winds, and sun again all in the 8  hours. Tommy was taking tips cleaning the windows after it rained.  I can’t believe how lucky we were to see so many animals. At one point I spotted a wolf on the roads edge. I was jumping up from my seat, trying to get my camera focused, trying to open the school bus window, while trying to get “WOLF – STOP” out of my mouth. I fumbled and said “uh uhhh umm ahh ummm emmm Wolf!” I cannot not believe I looked a wild wolf in the eye, face to face, just 6 ft away from me. But by the time I got “wolf – stop” out of my mouth and got the window opened and the bus stopped, the wolf was walking up the gravel road in front of us. Tommy and I have laughed several times on me trying to do the camera, the window, and talk all at the same time – it was to much. I am sure I got everyone's attention when I was stumbling and stammering. They knew something was up. But the great thing was, we were all able to see the wolf. We also were so blessed to see Dall sheep,     a Golden Eagle perched atop a cliff and then take flight                (how often can you look down on top of a bird flying?) , Grizzlies in the distance, Caribou – one even enjoyed skiing down this patch of ice.          He was walking and as he was going downhill on the ice, he slid. It looked like he was skiing. Funny to see. We also got to see a moose munching on leaves.

We were wondering if we would be lucky enough to see Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. Only about 40% of the visitors are able to see her. The warm ground air rises, collides with the cold air in the upper atmosphere, and forms many thick clouds which creates the drastic weather changes. Well friends, we were in the lucky 40%! Here she is about 80 miles away, the white mountain in the center. Our first glimpse she was so clear, then clouds started to form, creating a circle around her. A short while later, Mt McKinley – Denali –”the big one” was encapsulated with big white fluffy clouds, hiding her for the rest of the day. Once again, another blessed beautiful day.