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

I was awake briefly several times during the night and heard rain.

I awoke for good around 6:30, and it sounded like the rain had stopped. It was completely cloudy at 40°F (4°C). Had my normal breakfast. There was light rain at 7:38. I headed to the bus stop at 8:12 and J stayed in the RV as she had been planning to do.

I got on a bus to the Eielson Visitor Center at 8:21. When we stopped at the Teklanika rest area, I asked the driver if ptarmigan count as wildlife or whether he could drop me off right next to some. (Bus drivers aren't allowed to let people off the bus within one half to one mile of wildlife.) He said he'd let me off if we came across any. :)

Shortly after going by the Igloo Campground, we came upon a grizzly bear very close to the road. :) It was foraging in the brush, and it appeared that he had dug up a bees' nest. Unfortunately, the brush was too dense to get a good image of him trying to brush away the bees. After he moved parallel to the road, the brush thinned out and I was able to get a half decent shot of him when he sat down again (left). Then he stood up and walked away back into thick brush and out of site.

Maybe 1/4 of a mile (1300m) down the road, we spotted some Dall sheep rams not too far up the hillside, and there were some photographers standing fairly close to the sheep on a nice hill that was easily accessible from the road. I asked the driver if he'd let me off the bus, and he said I'd have to wait. :( I (not so) patiently waited for the other passengers to finish viewing the sheep so that we could get underway again and I'd be able to get off the bus. After driving about half a mile (2600m), the driver let me off the bus and I started walking back to the sheep. By the time the nice hill came back into view, the sheep had headed much further up the hill and there were two other people up by the photographers. I kept walking and went by a snowshoe hare.

As I hiked up to the top of the nice hill, the two other people had started hiking up to the Dall sheep rams. I stopped and talked with the photographers for a while, and wondered if hiking up the next part of the very steep slope would be worth it. I decided to give it a go, and reached the other two people, one of which was a photographer, who were stopped and waiting for the Dall sheep to move into a better position. I set up my camera and waited. Eventually, the rams moved a bit closer and into some interesting groupings (left), but they were still too far away to get any great images. We waited and talked a bit. A&B are from Germany and visit Denali roughly every other year. A is the photographer and carries the photo backpack, and his wife B enjoys the outdoors and carries the food and clothing — what a deal. :) A peregrine falcon flew over a couple of times, probably hunting the Arctic ground squirrels in the area. The cloud cover had been getting darker, and it started to snow. The sheep appeared to be heading up over a ridge, so we headed back down the hill. I made it down the steep section much faster than A&B, and by the time I reached the lower hill, I saw a west-bound bus approaching. I was quite happy when it stopped for some reason still to the east so I could keep heading down to the road with the possibility of boarding it. I made it to the road in time to catch the bus. :) Unfortunately, the bus was only going to Toklat, so I would have to switch buses to get further into the park.

I got off the bus near a group of willow ptarmigan right by the road. They were in a restricted access area where no off-road hiking was allowed, and the bus driver wanted to make sure I knew of the restriction. I photographed the ptarmigan from the road for a bit, then moved a short distance (maybe 20 yds or 20m) off the road so I could get a better angle after they had moved. Two buses stopped as I was "in the restricted area" and the drivers asked if I knew about the restriction. I didn't think 20 yds counted as being off the road so I wasn't worried. I left the ptarmigan and started walking west along the road.

I came upon another group of willow ptarmigan right by the side of the road, and at least one was a male. I was tempted to photograph them, but there was a light drizzle and I thought I heard a bus arriving, and I didn't want to miss it.

Sure enough, a bus arrived within 20 seconds and I hopped on. It would take me all the way to the Eielson Visitor Center which is where I had planned to turn around. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground as we went over Sable Pass. We stopped to watch a golden eagle perched on the ground maybe 40 yds (36m) away.

We reached the Eielson Visitor Center at 1:42, and Mt. McKinley was completely hidden by the cloud layer. I went inside and reloaded my water bottle, then checked the weather forecast. They were predicting partly sunny tomorrow. :) We left at 2:40 and headed back towards the park entrance.

On the way back, we saw another golden eagle, more willow ptarmigan, and more Dall sheep way up on a hillside.

I got off the bus at the Teklanika Campground around 4:55. I was quite surprised and happy that J had started packing to join me camping at Wonder Lake. She had not been keen on the idea even under the best weather conditions, and I thought she'd just stay in the RV with the weather we had been having. I downloaded images and did a quick edit while J showered, then I showered.

Had dinner around 6:20 of leftover Best Chicken Ever, and we both realised that it was similar to the Mountain House dehydrated food we'd be having out at Wonder Lake — so much for one last great meal before heading out into the "wilderness." We sat and talked for quite a while over dinner because we had had different experiences during the day. We haven't had much extended conversation at dinner like that for a while because we've been together practically 24/7. I did the dishes.

Did a quick edit of the images I took today, then had dessert of brownies that J had baked today — mmm. Packed up things for camping at Wonder Lake.