On Seeing Denali...The "High One"

This Grizzly sow and her cub seem to have found some tasty treasure in this tree.

And on the third day of our visit, our patience was rewarded when Mt McKinley – or Denali, as she is known to the Athabascan people who refer to her as the “ High One” - allowed the cloak of clouds that almost always cover her to fall away. There she stood, all 20,320 feet of her. She rises more than 18,000 feet above the lowlands of Wonder Lake – a greater vertical relief than even Mount Everest.
But, on Friday afternoon, three days after we had arrived at Denali, she showed herself to us.
In the meantime, we had not wasted our time for we had the privilege of seeing five Grizzly Bears, a Lynx, Moose, five Wolves, a Coyote, a Golden Eagle, Snowshoe Hares, Caribou, too many Dall Sheep to even count and, perhaps, the most amazing thing of all: dozens of tiny Arctic Squirrels that are quite unique among all the animals. In the numbing cold of Denali's winter, their body temperature drops to 27 degrees F. Their hibernation is so complete that their blood actually freezes. But they return to life in the spring. Quite remarkable.
When you come here, you are not permitted to drive through the six-million-acre park on your own. This place is so huge it is larger than the state of New Hampshire. This is a preserve, created in 1917 to protect the Dall Sheep. It is necessary to travel on a shuttle bus or to walk into the wilderness. The road is 92 miles long. And the place only begins to yield wildlife when you go beyond the first 20 miles.
We packed our lunch, took a bus,and headed out. Our driver, John, described the park's history, as well as the flora and fauna. He mentioned Lynx but said it was highly unlikely we would see one of these reclusive animals. It was the first animal we saw! Passengers are asked to shout out “Stop” when they see an animal. One man did and when John stopped the bus and asked what he'd seen, he said, “I think I saw a Lynx.” I thought to myself, “Sure you did.” But there she was in the underbrush at the right side of us, slinking along, not that happy to be in our sight. I was unable, in the crush of people aboard, to get a picture but we both saw this massive cat.
But that was just the beginning. We watched and photographed a sow Grizzly and her two or three year old cub as they collected berries about half a mile from us. She even did something John said he'd never even known a Grizzly could do: She climbed a tree to get something that appealed to her. The Grizzly is not designed to climb trees like the Black Bear. Her claws are just too massive and long. But there she was.
We had been warned not to expect Dall Sheep to be too close to the road. These creatures are at their happiest when they cling to an almost vertical face of rock. But we came upon a bachelor group that had decided they'd take up residence on a knob of rock that was ridiculously close to the road.
Moose languished in ponds. They are so large, it would take the pelts of five Grizzlies to cover their bodies.
An Arctic Timber Wolf loped onto the road and looked at us insolently before jumping down the bank and making its way to the Savage River where he joined his mate. What an experience we had. Caribou were everywhere, the bulls and their enormous antlers are still covered in mossy fuzz for another five weeks while they continue to grow.
The next day, we visited the kennels at the park where a ranger explained this is the only national park to have teams of dogs that pull sleds in the wintertime. When the Denali road is closed with the first snows, the dogsled is used by the rangers to cut trails in the park for snow-shoers and skiers. They also are used to haul garbage out of the park – garbage that was placed there by miners back in the 1900s. A twelve-dog team can easily pull 1,300 pounds of material. We were invited to pet the Alaskan Huskies – very friendly dogs that are mutts in that they are a mix through the years of wolf, and all manner of other dogs so that they are bred for long legs, narrow feet and great stamina.

I found this Inuit myth in the kennel:

“The earth split in two and the men and the beasts were separated by a profound abyss. In the great chaos of creation, birds, insects, and four-legged creatures sought to save themselves in flight. All but the dog. He alone stood at the edge of the abyss, barking, howling, pleading.
“ The man, moved by compassion, cried, “Come”, and the dog hurled himself across the chasm to join them. His front two paws caught the far edge. The dog certainly would have been lost forever had the man not caught him and saved his life.”

Later in the day, as we made out way south by 100 miles, we decided to make another foray to view Denali. And there she was in all her pristine glory, with wreathes of cloud moving down upon her. A UFO-type cloud, with a mushroom top, hovered off to her south and the majesty of the moment was breath-taking. We lingered for three hours as we watched the weather work its way back and forth around the mountain and we were able to photograph the mountain and her surrounding foothills with the setting sun until 11:30 at night.

Sunday, June 27
The rains came in the night and that wrapped it up for Denali. We drove south to Wasilla, Alaska. This is the home of Simple Sara, the former governor of the state who has the remarkable ability to see all things in terms of black and white.... no grays.