DENALI

June 19~blue skies here...Mt. McKinley...cloudy.
Left the campground about 8:30am, leaving Jack behind with Emmy Mae to watch over him. We were on the 10:15am bus with Mona as our experienced driver of 29 years, very informative and interesting. The Wonder Lake 'tour' takes 11 hours, but well worth the price ($39.95/person) and time. There are several 15 minute stops for rest areas and pictures and time allotted for animal spying and stopping. Those Kodak moment butt shots are just waiting to happen! We have a Kodak EasyShare Z740...a wonderful camera that can zoom in quite closely... comes with it's own printer, too and does a fantastic job.
Privately owned vehicles can drive a few miles into the park, but in order to see more animals, mountains and rivers one has to take the bus...reservations need to be made at least a month in advance if you want to be sure you'll be going on a particular one. I made reservations a month early, hoping to get on an earlier bus, but all were filled.
We saw several caribou, a couple moose, quite a few snowshoe hare, TWO BIG BLOND GRIZZLIES (one zigzaging, looking for a caribou calf and the other asleep on the mountainside with legs stretched to the back), Dall sheep***AND MT. MCKINLEY***an awe-inspiring site, so big and bold, from all directions...just a wonder of God's creation! The mountain was in the clouds all the way to Wonder Lake...and then, just like a curtain parting, there she was, looking like a wall right there in front of us! Pictures and words just don't do it justice...you'll just have to experience it yourself!
Got back to Jack and Emmy Mae about 9:30pm...and, yes he did, have the garlic bread and lasagna ready for us to eat after our hard day of playing.