Denali Road Lottery

Our day for the Road Lottery had finally arrived.   Sunrise wasn't until 8:20am so we waited until 7am to leave the hotel.  We checked all of our gear one more time before we left.  Laden with binoculars, cameras, lenses, spare batteries, extra memory cards, extra warm clothing,  and snack and lunch items we headed out, stopping at Starbucks for large coffees on the way out of the hotel.

We drove slowly along the road hoping for wildlife.  Grouse and ptarmigan were all we saw for  a while. We stopped for photos of the incredible scenery along the way.   Then our first bear!  Up on the mountain side and looking fat and happy.  We were approaching the highest point on the park road and the mountains near us were already covered with snow.  The small bear jam broke up and we proceeded along the road, trying to distance ourselves from the other cars.

We traveled a bit further and saw a lone car pulled over and an excited photographer on the side of the road.  She had found a porcupine and was taking photos.  Her companion translated to explain about the porcupine and after a few shots she signed asking about the lenses we were using.  We had a great conversation about lens size and the relative merits of Nikon and Canon cameras.  We were to see the two several more times along the way.

After another bear a bit further along the way we saw the first caribou.  He was really magnificent and close enough for a decent photo.

After frequent stops to enjoy the beauty around us we reached Wonder Lake and then the town of Kantanisha.  The Mountain was not out and the views at Reflection Lake were much but it was exciting to reach the end of the road so deep in Denali.

The ride back was much colder and windier.  Winds reached 70mph that day.  There were more bears and another caribou.  Right before Teklanika I told Breland it would be really nice to see a caribou along the road.  He agreed and then said "Whoa!"  A very large moose stepped out of the roadside brush right into our path!  My first few photos through the windshield weren't much.  The moose approached us, making disgruntled sounds.  I rolled my window down and opened my door and took several shots as he stood there for a bit, then decided we were no threat and turned to walk up the side of the mountain.  We followed him a bit in the car and lost him in the trees.  A few hundred feet later there was another large bull moose.  

After stopping to shoot the ptarmigan again we headed back to the hotel, with lots of memories and full memory cards, feeling so lucky to have had these adventures.