My friends first visit to Denali National Park

This is Nancy's first visit to Denali National Park, so we wanted it to be special. We left the campground around 7 a.m. and headed north.

We stopped at the North View point. We got a few shots of Mt. McKinley. It was clear as a bell. (Just how clear is a bell?) Great views of the mountains in the range. Okay, so the vegetation was a little high.

At the next stop, no trees hindering the view. Can you believe that shot!!! People spend days and weeks waiting for that view.

We arrived at the Wilderness Access Center about 8:30 and were promptly signed up for the bus to the Eilson Visitors Center. We left at 9:30 for an 8 hour day.

Today was Grizzly Bear day at the Park. We saw about 12 different bears. They are changing from their summer, blonde hair, to the winter dark brown hair. Quite a sight.

A sow with two cubs.

One of the cubs posing for us.

Dall Sheep on the mountainside. Wished I had a honking zoom camera!

Some nice scenery shots.

A few more Dall Sheep on another hillside.

A good look at a grizzly. You can see how the fur change is taking place.

This male was walking down the road. There was a car to his right and a camper truck around the corner on the left and we were waiting for him to just keep moving it and get off the road! He was a large bear!

More shots of the mountains without the snow. In the month since we were there, many of the mountains lost their snow. Don't worry, it'll be coming back real soon.

A variation of the Red Fox. A beautiful small fox. The drivers unwillingness to stop for this fox did cost him.

Running female and young cariboo, aka reindeer.

Another grizzly.

Some Dall Sheep on a far away mountain.

Nice scenery of a river that is low in water. It will pretty much stop shortly, or be frozen.

Another grizzly - kind of young, looking at mom.

Cariboo tend to stand with their back to the highway or vehicles so that they are ready to run at a moments notice. He (don't really know the sex of the animal) was getting a nice rack. Rut season is just around the corner.

We would like to have seen this one. It chose to take a break. Can't tell if it is male of female as they both have antlers.

Here is a video of a grizzly taking a stroll near the bus.

We had a great day even if the only moose that we saw was one that Nancy spotted as we were hurtling down the highway. We had dinner at the Salmon Bake at the Denali Strip Mall and then made a lazy drive back to Byers Lake.