[You may view a Denali National Park brochure with map in PDF format here.]

I slept well after the blow-up Coleman mattress was gone and I was back to using the thick REI "Thermarest" sleeping pad with my head pointed downhill. There was no slope to the left or right, so that had probably been due to the blow-up Coleman mattress being placed on top of the thick REI "Thermarest" sleeping pad the night before.

I awoke around 1:35 before the 2:00 alarm. I had set the alarm that early so I could check for northern lights. I got partially dressed, then stood up outside right next to the tent. The sky was clear and there were loads of stars in the dark sky, but no aurora. I'm beginning to think the whole northern lights thing is a big hoax because I've never seen them. I got dressed more so I could answer the call of nature, then stood around and looked up at the stars for a while before going back to bed.

I awoke around 5:10 before the 5:20 alarm. The mountain (Mt. McKinley) was partly out and there was frost on the tent. Had some trail mix and instant coffee for breakfast, then ...

I walked to the top of a knoll near the campground to photograph Mt. McKinley which was looking better and better. As I waited for the light to change, I ate some blueberries from the bushes that were around me. A pair of tundra swans flew around the south end of Wonder Lake around 7:30, and it was 36°F (2°C). I kept my ears peeled for the 8:00 Camper Bus to Kantishna, and when it moved from the overnight parking area to the bus stop, I ran back to the bus to get on it. We left at 8:05.
I got off of the bus around 8:12 just north of the cabins near the Y at Wonder Lake. I had seen a bear out in the tundra, and I wanted to get out to photograph it. As the driver slowed, he kindly let me know that there was a bear in the area — duh, that's why I was getting off the bus! I walked out into the beautiful tundra in fall colors and had a great time photographing the black bear — the first bear I had ever photographed on foot in Denali. At first, the bear moved away as I approached, then it settled down and resumed eating the bearberries and blueberries.

I went back to the road in plenty of time to catch the bus as it went by the other direction. I walked along the road for a while then stopped to photograph Mt. McKinley. I got back on the bus at 9:08.
We reached the Eielson Visitor Center around 10:00, and Mt. McKinley was out in the clear. I got off the bus and went down the hill to look for cooperative Arctic ground squirrels. Part way down the hill, two women who were walking about 10 yds (9m) ahead of me suddenly stopped, turned around, and told me that there was a bear around the corner. I picked up my pace and sure enough, there was a grizzly bear eating some berries. I started photographing it, and it appeared to take an interest in an Arctic ground squirrel burrow. It didn't spend much time with it and went back to eating berries. It must have gotten tired of all the paparazzi because it walked away, and very kindly turned to go along the top of the ridge to let me capture this image (left). It doesn't get much better than that! I finished photographing my second bear on foot, then photographed Mt. McKinley out in the clear on an absolutely beautiful day! I was in heaven! I also hoped that J had gotten on a bus this morning so she could experience the park with such great weather. I got back on the same bus at 10:35.

We went by a grizzly bear, then a grizzly sow with two cubs, all too far away from the bus to photograph them. We stopped to watch a caribou near the road. We stopped to watch and photograph a golden eagle soaring close by right at eye level as we were approaching Polychrome Overlook. Then we stopped to watch a gyrfalcon perched on a rock outcropping, and it was too far away to photograph. :(

I got off the bus at 11:44 at Polychrome Overlook to look for the fox. It wasn't around, so I hopped on a bus heading to the Eielson Visitor Center at 12:34.

We stopped for a grizzly sow and cub near Highway Pass. They were just within range to photograph, but they were backlit. :( The sow was laying with her belly on the ground to rest and cool off, and the cub was walking around eating. After a while, the cub started nursing! Two bears on foot and now a bear nursing — things just kept getting better!

We stopped at the Eielson Visitor Center and I went inside to check the weather, etc. Sunrise is at 6:27, and sunset 9:26. We left at 3:51.

Clouds had started to form on the northeast side of Mt. McKinley. We went by a bull moose, some interesting ducks on a pond, and a caribou cow and calf.

We returned to the Wonder Lake Campground at 4:44, and A&B and some other photographers were waiting at the bus stop. A&B invited me to go photograph some beavers, so I hopped back on the bus. We left around 5:10.

We got off the bus at 5:28 near the Denali North Face Lodge in Kantishna to photograph the beavers in a pond very close to the road. Two adults and a youngster were collecting food for the winter. The beavers didn't mind us being there, and just went about their business, sometimes no more than 10 ft (3m) away! I was amazed when one adult carried a huge log, about 5 ft (1.5m) long and 5 in (13cm) in diameter up the far side of the dam and over the top into the pond (left)! A dark cloud was moving in, so I left at 6:26 on the same bus that had dropped me off.
We stopped for a big bull caribou close to the road (left). There were sheets of rain falling between us and Mt. McKinley.

I got off the bus at 6:41 at the Y near the Wonder Lake Campground and started walking to the campground. (The bus doesn't stop at the campground on its way to the park entrance after going to Kantishna.) Light rain started when I was about half way to the campground, and there was steady rain by the time I reached the bus stop near the campground.

I reached the Wonder Lake Campground around 7:10 and went straight to the shelter. As I was putting things away, several people started talking to me about photography. I went to wash up, then came back to the shelter to have dinner of the second half of the Mountain House Chicken Polynesian from last night. I continued talking with one guy about photography. The rain stopped and the clouds started to move away. I listened to the end of the campfire program about Kantishna. It was given by Ranger Jamie Cleaver at the shelter.

I went out to photograph the mountains around 9:10 as the mountains to the southeast were starting to light up. The clouds over Wonder Lake (to the northwest) turned a bright orange, but the mountains near Mt. McKinley never lit up. I packed up and went to the tent around 10:20 — what a long and fantastic day!