Tuesday July 13th, Riley Campground, Denali National Park, AK

170 miles – In a park bus!

Yes, we finally saw our grizzlies, 13 in all along with 2 lynx, caribou, golden eagles and a number of other smaller animals. It was such a treat, although the weather closed in late morning and we had light rain for the rest of the trip with no chance of seeing Mt McKinley, North Americas highest mountain. Evidently it is quite a sight but often it is clouded in. Perhaps if it had been sunny we wouldn’t have seen the animals out and about.

Watching a young grizzly bear about 30 feet from the bus as she dug a hole hunting a ground squirrel was an absolute highlight and so hilarious, especially as we were watching from a bus! We stopped for about 20 minutes, completely quiet and she continued digging, her huge heavy shoulders and big claws just ripping huge big rocks from the ground as she desperately tried to get the squirrel. Her back feet where spread apart at ground level and she was head first down the hole firing out the rocks and debris between her legs, so much of the time we only saw a “bear butt”! The bus had a bit of a timetable to keep to so we had to move on, but I could have spent the whole afternoon there just watching.

Spotting the lynx was evidently not that common, it is so good to see these creatures in their natural environment.

The 11 hour bus trip was quite tiring especially as it was just an old school bus, although we had a number of stops where we could get out and go for a short walk. The driver, Tim, gave a commentary during much of the trip which was very informative, but at times he droaned on a bit, and I had a job keeping awake!

We were sitting having a drink before dinner when we saw a couple who we had chatted with last night. They joined us for a drink..or two and what a great evening we had. Andy (77) and Francis (73) have been married 57 years, and they are the happiest most fun loving couple who enjoy life to the fullest. They are from Arizona and Larry was a teacher who coached high school football and in the summer holidays he worked as a ranger for Rocky Mountain National Parks. Francis was brought up on a ranch and in fact she still rides and helps with the annual round up every year. The people you meet on these trips just make it!