One of the last things I did with the family while they were here was go for a bus ride into the park. Since they had a week to do it, we tried to choose the best weather day. This summer has been pretty rainy so there actually wasn't a day without any chance of rain. But this day turned out to be a really nice. It rained in the morning but we left out on the bus around noon (after all the rain). We ended up with partly cloudy skies and no rain!
This is a far away caribou crossing a snow patch. However, the very first animal that we saw was a grizzly sleeping just above a snow patch like this one. It was so far away that I didn't bother taking a picture.
Down the road a ways another caribou but closer to us.
Toklat River
Stopped for a break on Polychrome Pass.
Great views of the valley and braided river beds.
Edward and Madison decided to take a short walk down the hill.
This is the most of "the big mountain" that we saw that day. Actually the most they saw during their two weeks in Alaska I think. Next time! I overheard a lady say on the bus that day that she came to AK eleven times before she saw Denali.
Luke was impressed by the size and the weight of the caribou and moose antlers. They probably weigh more than he does. As you can tell he is struggling to hold them upright, but having fun trying!
Madison enjoyed them too!
Our second bear sighting was a good one! A sow with two spring cubs. They were fairly far away, but at least they were moving around. They actually seemed to be walking towards the road. We watched them for a while but they were moving to slow for us to keep waiting on them to reach the road.
A little further away we saw this solo bear, maybe a boar???
Edward here...having a good time!
We turned around at the Eielson Visitor Center making an eight hour round trip bus ride for the day. It's exhausting looking for wildlife all day!
The kids did so well on the bus. They really enjoyed seeing the wildlife. Madison especially! I wish I would have captured her expressions and excitement on video when she saw some of the bears up close and personal. It was too cute!
Three bull caribou grazing on the hillside.
Woooo hoooo! Grizzly on the road! The kids (and adults) were thrilled to see this!
It walked right by the bus!
That bear has a big grin on its face! Loving summertime!
Edward spotted this marmot laid out on a rocky knoll as we drove by! That was a good spot! And such a cool little critter too!
In the photo above, there is a grizzly below the snow patch in the middle of photo. That is actually the first grizzly we saw earlier in the day that was sleeping above this snow patch. It hadn't moved very far obviously.
Literally a hundred yards down the road from that bear, we saw another grizzly on the road!
As we were watching her through the windshield of the bus, Madison noticed two cubs directly out beside us in the bushes above the road.
They were precious! And a little unnerved by the three buses parked on the road by their mother. They weren't quite sure what to do.
At one point she scampered off the road and convinced them that it was ok to be down here. Here they are coming onto the road.
They wandered back and forth, from one side to the other.
For a second, it seemed like she had a stand off with the bus. Basically warning it that it better not try anything dumb around her cubs.
Finally they walked off the road near our bus and began sauntering through the grass again.
Adorable spring cubs in the middle of tundra wildflowers!
Further away, the sow stopped to scratch her back on a spruce tree.
Talk about saving the best for last! What a show! Everyday in the park is a treat! I'm glad I got to share it with some family again! Thanks again for coming!
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