Continued from the previous page.

ON OUR OWN

When we got done with the hike we waited a few minutes for shuttle buses to come by in each direction. I watched a single caribou feeding nearby in the stream. This must be Caribou Central!

Five of us, including me, got on a shuttle bus going west to Eielson. The ranger and another hiker continued to wait for an eastbound bus back toward the park entrance.

In the few miles between Stony Creek and Eielson we saw more caribou on the ridges, in the meadows, in gravel washes and -- my favorite -- walking right down the middle of the park road!.

The caribou racks are covered in "velvet" at this time of year.

This large buck was feeding quite close to the road at Stony Hill.

PHOTOS FROM EIELSON VISITOR CENTER

My intention for going out to Eielson was to see if anything was different inside the visitor center from the last time I was there three years ago, to wander around the deck and patio, taking more photos from this very scenic location, and to perhaps do some more hiking.

By afternoon, however, Denali was covered in clouds -- a common occurrence -- so I wasn't motivated to do any more hiking out there.

I was happy to see that the very large four-panel quilt that fills the far wall inside the visitor center is still on display:

Here's a detail from the lower middle panel:

This is what Denali looks like about 70% of the time (next photo). Jim and I were lucky to see it so often three years ago. I'm glad we both got to see it clearly this morning on just our second day in the park this trip.

 
Denali is in hiding about 70% of the time. 

View to the south

Glacier to the south

Thorofare Ridge to the north; I've hiked up there several times before when Denali was "out."

I was done wandering around in about 15 minutes and checked in with the bus dispatcher to see if I could get on the next bus headed back to the entrance. The next one out was the bus I'd just ridden the last six miles so I hopped back on it.

I had a window seat again so I was able to take a lot of photos of animals and magnificent scenery on the way home:

Above and below:  L. and R. sides of one of my photos of colorful mountains

 

Photo tip:  The best window views of the wide Polychrome valley area are from seats on the driver's side of the bus outbound and the passenger side inbound.

Outbound buses also stop at the Polychrome Overlook so all passengers can get out to take photos of the magnificent Alaska Range, multiple glaciers, and several channels of water that flow down to the Toklat River:

 

 

 

Note the pretty glacial ponds AKA "kettles" in the foreground, left.

On the way back to the entrance we saw more caribou in several locations and two grizzlies near Sable Pass that the driver thinks are siblings who were recently kicked out by their mom:

 

 

The bus driver saw them close up in the same area recently and Mama Bear was clearly saying, Time to go out on your own, kiddos.

The young bears were several hundred feet away so my close-ups without a tripod are rather fuzzy but it was fun to watch them move down the slope in search of food. Grizzlies are the #1 critter that Denali visitors most want to observe.

The scenery the remainder of the way back to the park entrance was very colorful in the late afternoon/early evening light:

 

The sky was blue until I was walking about half a mile from the Wilderness Access Center to the campground:

That doesn't look so good!

I made it back before it began raining. I finally got home at 7:30 PM, twelve hours after my arrival at WAC this morning.

It was a long day but I thoroughly enjoyed the Disco Hike and will consider doing another one next week or when we come back in August. I love exploring the tundra. As long as I have reference points, it's easy to find my way back to where I started.

JIM'S DAY

While I was gone today Jim did a bunch of things at the camper, took the dogs out to Savage River (can't walk them on national park trails, though), talked to a CG host at Savage Creek, found out that CJ and Monnie are still hosts at Riley Creek CG (we really liked them in 2012), and took Casey for a five-mile run with his bike around the campground, on the paved bike path over the Nenana River pedestrian bridge, and to Nenana Canyon AKA "Glitter Gulch."

He found an inviting naturalized pool of water by a hotel where Casey could get wet and play with a little fountain:

(Don't tell the hotel.)

Casey also got attention from a bunch of people. She loves that!

Next entry:  scenic Savage Alpine Loop Trail hike

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

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© 2015 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil