Into the Wild

Because our Tundra Wilderness Tour wasn't scheduled to depart until 3:00PM, we had more than half a day to explore Denali National Park on our own. So, we took our time getting out the door this morning.

Another view of Otto Lake from our room at the inn

Our first stop in the park was the Denali Bus Depot. The guys checked out the stuff in the gift shop, while I got my passport stamps. With the annual pass I bought yesterday, I also went to the tour desk for a refund of the $15/person entrance fee included in the price of the tickets. Then we went outside to the bus stop for the Savage River Shuttle (free) to catch a ride out to the Mountain Vista trailhead.

Along the way, the bus pulled over a couple times for moose sightings not far from the road. Thankfully, I could open the window for some unobstructed pics...

Can you spot the second moose trailing behind?

We hopped off the bus at the rest area around 10:15AM and set out to hike the 0.6-mile Mountain Vista Loop Trail. It was too cloudy for any views of Denali today, though. This area of the park is in a transition zone between the taiga (lower elevation coniferous forest) and tundra (higher elevation mosses, lichens, grasses, and dwarf shrubs).

A short spur trail brought us to the banks of the Savage River...

📸: M

Back at the trailhead, we didn't have to wait very long for the next shuttle to take us back to the bus depot. After getting the car, we drove over to the Riley Creek Mercantile for more passport stamps and to check out their merch. R fixed sandwiches for lunch, which we ate while sitting in the parking lot.

Then we headed to the visitor center so that J and M could turn in their junior ranger booklets and get their badges. I think it's great that the not-so-junior rangers are still willing to work on the booklets for the big national parks!

Jr. Ranger Badge #127

After watching part of the park film (dark room = nap), we drove back to the bus depot to wait until it was time for our tour to start. Once on board the bus, the driver gave a great narrated history of the park as he drove, but our attention was primarily focused on the gorgeous scenery outside in the hopes of spotting some wildlife. We definitely weren't disappointed over the next 5-6 hours...

Look at the rack on that bull moose!

Savage River

Grouse

Dall sheep

Caribou

At the Teklanika River Rest Area, we were able to get off the bus to stretch our legs for a bit and take in the view. As an aside, this is the very same river that the ill-fated "Into the Wild" adventurer Christopher McCandless was unable to cross to get out of the wilderness, although he was farther north from here. 

Looking south at the Teklanika River

More Dall sheep

Golden eagle

Wow!

In the Sable Pass area, we were able to spend several minutes watching a mama grizzly bear and her cub feeding on the carcass of a caribou.

It was about 7:15PM when we got back to the Teklanika River Rest Area again, about 2.25 hours after our initial stop. This time the sun was out!

Still daylight left at 8:00PM...

The caribou came out to greet the bus...

Savage River

Somebody's watching me

By the time we returned to the bus depot, it was almost 9:00PM. So after leaving the park, we headed straight to 49th State Brewing in Healy for dinner, hoping that the wait wouldn't be as long as yesterday. We all enjoyed our meals, although the root beer drinkers think Moose's Tooth edges out 49th State.

Clockwise: Bavarian pretzel with beer cheese, craft soda flight (root beer, raspberry, aurora borealis, blueberry cream), Mt. Magnificent burger, more root beer, buffalo meatloaf, elk burger, beer flight (Amber Borealis, Arctic Roots Cider, Blonde Eagle Ale, Golden Dall Belgian), Alaska wild king salmon

The bus used in the 2007 movie "Into the Wild" is here at the restaurant/brewery.
The actual bus is now in a museum in Fairbanks.