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

Slept in. There was solid darkish overcast around 8:00. Had a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, toast, and LavAzza coffee. J and I sat and talked over breakfast. J did the dishes. :) The sky was getting much brighter. We prepped the RV, then drove around the loop where we were camped and stopped in front of a water faucet around 10:10. I opened up the fresh water tank drain so we could dump as much of the nasty iodine-laden water as we could before taking on fresh water. The water from this faucet was very good, and we had been filling water bottles from it to drink from. I worked up a blog entry. Started to take on fresh water around 10:35. J said she could drive the RV out of the park and I could ride the bus back into the park to make the most of our last day — fantastic! J drove the RV to the bus stop, and I got out at 11:08 in plenty of time to catch the bus that was supposed to depart around 11:10 and go to the Eielson Visitor Center. I boarded the bus and left at 11:20.

We stopped to watch and photograph a bald eagle on a nice rock outcropping among some fantastic fall color. Bald eagles are not usually in the park, so this was a special treat. The image to the left is a good example of an animal in its environment, and doesn't look that interesting in this small version. It would look great as a 20x24-inch print on your wall though. Shooting from the bus wasn't too good, but I didn't want to get off the bus and then have to wait for the next one for "just a bald eagle."
We stopped to watch and photograph a grizzly sow with two yearling cubs very close to the road as we were heading up Sable Pass. They were busy eating and didn't give us many good looks, and the cubs were pretty independent and weren't sticking too close to their mother, so it was hard to get a nice group shot (left). The bears came right down to the road and then walked along the road heading east behind us. They dashed off into the brush by the side of the road and caught an Arctic ground squirrel that was too slow. After they finished off the squirrel snack, they continued moving along the road behind us. Because they were on a mission, I decided to stay on the bus instead of getting off in half a mile or so and then walking back to look for them.

Shortly before the East Fork of the Toklat River, we stopped to watch a group of Dall sheep way up on a hillside to the right. There was also a grizzly bear sow with two spring cubs down by a stream to the left, two caribou bulls high on a ridge to the left, and a bull moose far away on the right. What a nice place to stop for wildlife viewing!

I got off the bus at Polychrome Overlook around 12:55 because I wanted to take some landscape pictures and the driver of the bus I had been on wanted to make up some time on his schedule and wasn't going to stop for more than a few minutes so people could take pictures from the bus. It was extremely windy, so I only took one or two shots before getting on the next westbound bus at 1:05.

We stopped to watch a group of five Dall sheep rams up a hill just before reaching the Toklat rest area. The rams were looking good and weren't too high up, but the ground between them and the road would have been very difficult hike up, so I stayed on the bus.

We stopped shortly before reaching the Eielson Visitor Center to watch and photograph a group of five Dall sheep ewes and two lambs really close to the road. Not too long after we stopped, they started walking along a low ridge which was perfect for photography (left). Then they crossed the road and started heading up the hill to the north. I continued to photograph from the bus, then got off to photograph from a tripod. Unfortunately, there were some heat waves from the hot hillside, so those images ended up being soft. :(

We reached the Eielson Visitor Center around 2:25 and I got off the bus. I reloaded my water bottle, then signed up for a space on the next bus back to the park entrance. I boarded the same bus I had gotten on first this morning, then we left at 2:48.
I got off the bus at 3:52 about a mile before reaching the Polychrome Overlook so that I could walk the road and photograph the landscape below. The light was deteriorating, and the wind was still blowing, so it turned into more of a scenic walk than a productive photographic outing.

I boarded an eastbound bus about a mile east of Polychrome Overlook at 4:47. We stopped to pick up some backpackers just before the Teklanika rest area, and the Camper Bus that was supposed to be about half an hour behind us passed us. Because I was on a regular bus that terminated at the Wilderness Access Center, I switched over to the Camper Bus at the Teklanika rest area around 5:55 so I could ride all the way to Riley Creek Campground where J would be waiting for me with the RV. The timing had been perfect! The rolling hills near the Savage River Checkpoint were covered by a blanket of low red foliage and scattered spruce trees. It would be great to photograph if the light was good.

We stopped to watch and photograph a lynx by the side of the road, about half a mile (800m) west of Savage River Campground. The young lynx was mostly obscured by the brush, but there were one or two small openings where I could take an interesting photograph (left). When another bus pulled up, the lynx decided to move on and disappeared into the brush. While the photographic possibilities were limited, that was only the second lynx I've seen in the wild, and I was quite happy to get some images while being so close to it.

The bus arrived at the Riley Creek Campground at 7:10, and J was there in the RV. :) Not only had she driven the RV out of the park so that I could enjoy one last day in the park, she had also dumped after reaching Riley Creek! J has only dumped once before, so I was extremely pleased that she had taken the initiative and dumped so that we could leave as soon as possible after I returned. She's the best!

We had dinner of Chicken Rice-A-Roni with added cubed chicken pieces, and it was most tasty! We hooked up the Jeep, and departed at 7:51.
We stopped at the Chevron in Cantwell at 8:27 to get some propane. J had stayed in the RV more nights while we were in Denali than I was expecting, and it had been colder than I was expecting, and now we were practically out of propane! The dial gauge on the tank was slightly below "E." The guy manning the store wasn't qualified to fill up our propane tank, so we left and rushed down the road to get ...

To the Tesoro in Trapper Creek at 10:24. I was quite happy that they were still open and that the young woman manning the counter was qualified to fill our propane tank. After filling up on propane, we also got some gas for the RV. We left at 10:53 and ...

Headed up the Petersville Road. We stopped at a nice boondocking spot around 11:05. I unhooked the Jeep so we'd be ready to roll tomorrow morning, then went to bed.