Continued from the previous page.
TUNDRA VIEWS
After the trail gains most of its elevation through the rock formations and
across the pass, it remains high through the tundra and ridges for more
than a mile, with expansive views into the valleys to the east, west,
and south:
It sorta goes thataway
. . .
Looking back
THE DESCENT
I began a gradual descent to the
south, then east, about two miles from the other end of the trail.
Most of the trail surface in this
part was relatively smooth, with one section of rocks after the
"landing" marked with an arrow in the next photo:
Looking back
Looking back
again
Since the trail descends more
gradually on the east side I was in low shrubs, then aspens and
conifers, longer than at the beginning of the trail. There were also a
lot of fireweeds, monks head, and other wildflowers in bloom on this
side:
The trail
switchbacks down to the creek from here and follows the drainage to the
park road.
I'll have another entry with lots of wildflower
photos at the end of this Denali series.
ALONG THE ROAD
When I got down to the road I turned west and walked on nice, wide
trails to restrooms near the Savage Cabin, where rangers stay during the
winter. I marked my route on the map below:
There is an interpretive loop trail that includes the cabin. Tour buses
often take people there but I hadn't been back to the cabin before.
No one was there and the cabin was locked so I couldn't go inside:
I continued around the short interpretive loop to the road and
walked west about two miles to the river and our
truck.
One of the free Savage River shuttle buses stopped to ask if I wanted a
ride. I thanked the driver and said I wanted to walk so I could see
more. I was hoping to see one or more grizzly bears or caribou down in
the riverbed where I saw them three years ago but that didn't happen
today.
The alpine trail that I just hiked is up there
in that cirque . . .
Rain to the SW, well beyond the Savage River valley
Phooey -- no grizzlies or caribou in the riverbed
when I went by today.
I enjoyed the walk along the roadway and it's probably a good thing I
didn't accept the ride because about half a mile from the truck Jim rode
toward me on his bike!
He stopped and we talked. He was pretty worn down by the wind but wanted
to keep going some more.
When he rounded a curve up ahead he got blasted by the wind so badly that he
turned around. He beat me back to the truck and rode home with me.
I hiked a total of seven miles on this loop. The distance with the road
walk is about 6.5 miles if you park on the near side of the Savage River.
Elevations ranged from 2,624-4,150 feet. The GPS said I had a total gain
and loss of 5,070 feet.
CRITTER COUNT
Up in the tundra I saw a pair of friendly arctic ground squirrels
that looked very young. They were begging for food, totally unafraid of
me:
I'm so cute! How could you resist me?
No, I didn't feed them. I never feed wild animals but it's obvious some
other hikers have.
The only other critters, besides birds, that I saw were two large bull
caribou grazing above the east side of the Savage River
at the beginning of my hike. They were perhaps 150 feet from me as I
ascended the trail past the first large rock outcrop:
When I got done hiking 4+ hours later, a couple I was talking to on the
bridge across the river asked if I'd seen the caribou and pointed to
them. I couldn't believe they were still there!
As we drove back the park road to Riley Creek Campground Jim and I got
to see our first Denali moose of this trip. Two buses were stopped in
the road for several minutes so we knew they'd spotted a large animal of
some sort.
We could see a female moose when we were able to move up into their spot
but she was farther back in the trees by then so it was hard to get a
clear picture:
We haven't seen any moose or bears in our campground yet but we have
our fingers crossed . . .
Next entry: hiking the loop trail along the Savage River
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
