Wonder Lake is very calm this morning.
But the clouds are covering Denali. (I can't complain because we've already seen her 3 out of 3 days and from what I understand that's against the odds.) But the day is still young.
A Bald Eagle is perched on a nearby tree but as we pass, it flies.
At Reflection Pond, that Horned Grebe we saw on the way in is still swimming around.
Further down the road (and at the same pond we saw that large male Caribou on day one), we see a large male moose.
The bus in front of us spooked him and we added to his morning interruption. He quickly moves around the lake and then crosses the road behind us disappearing into the brush.
A little further, we have a similar experience with a female moose.
As we drive, the sun starts to peek thru the clouds. And by the time we arrive at the Eielson Visitor's Center, we have wonderful morning views.
And we get an awesome send-off as Denali shows a tiny bit of herself for the 4th day in a row!!!!
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Continuing on, we see a herd of 100+ Caribou with young. The bus driver says its odd for them to be in that large of a herd so early in the year. It's quite a treat!
As we pass, I can see the trails they've worn in the landscape to get to where they are now resting.
We see three more Caribou about a mile or two down the road.
We stop at the Toklat River Rest Area. I head down to the river to explore and manage to find two ground squirrels. The one leaves but the other stays to eat his breakfast of fresh green/flowers.
Then I walk around checking out the river views.
Coming into Sable Pass, we another bus passes and indicates that we'll be coming up on a wolf and caribou kill. We search and can not find it. :(
We also get a report of a female moose in the same area and never find her. :(
But, under Igloo Mountain, we spot a single white dot - a Dall's Sheep.
The final rest stop is at the Teklanika River.
Continuing on, I see 2 Golden Eagles flying in a meadow, And not a mile further, we spot one on the ground - large bird!! But it takes off as we pass.
That ends the Denali adventure -- what an amazing time!
Time to start our adventure as we head to Talkeetna via the Alaskan Railroad.
I have to admit, I'm not expecting to much on this train ridge but boy is it beautiful!
Lots of ponds, river, and mountain views.
We get a glimpse of a Mom and baby moose and not one but two male moose. (And the train slowed for everyone to see.)
We also see a pair of Swans and their young.
And another swan on a nest.
At one point, we can even see Denali (from the other side for a change)!
We pass plenty of old telephone poles with glass insulators and some of the people who live along the line, actually come out and wave to us. That's Alaskan hospitality!!
We arrive in Talkeetna and head for our hotel.
It's a free night for our group. As most head into town, I grab a quick burger at the Bistro and join a Nature Hike at X Lake.
I am expecting a nature talk as we walk but it is more just a walk. About 10 people, all very nice and friendly. I see lupine, wintergreen, blueberries (with actual berries), bunchberry, Geranium, Club Moss and Twinleaf.
There are several lakes along the trail and we see a loon on one of the lakes.
We also take a short detour for a decent look at Denali (yet again).
Not the nature talk I was hoping for but it was a 3.1 mile hike which is great after sitting on a bus for 6 hours and a train for 4.5 hours.
Awesome day!
Moving on tomorrow to Girdwood. (Only one full day left!)
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