Denali

This morning we travelled by train from Fairbanks to Denali.  Beautiful scenery through the tundra heading to the Denali National Park where the largest mountain in North America stands. Our train car was an observation car with glass all around,

We had breakfast on this train as well.

When we arrived at the park we had some lunch then took a bus tour into the interior of the park.  This was a tour to see the wildlife and get closer to the mountain. It took over 7 hours to complete this tour but we saw everything except wolves out in the wild.

First sighting was of a Caribou then many others.

Next we came across Grizzly bears, a mom and her two cubs that our guide said were about two years old.

Dall Sheep were spotted up on the mountain side quite a way from us, but these white specs are really them.

Next we reached the half way point of our tour, barely scratching the interior of the park, but Denali was right there in front of us.  We have been blessed with clear skies these past few days.  Our guide told us that most days you cannot see this mountain due to fog and clouds that almost always surround it.  Today we got the full view which we were told was very rare. Only 30% of the people who come to visit Alaska get to actually see this mountain and we were told that only 10% see it completely, like we have done for the past couple of days! 

On our way back out of the park we came across more Grizzlies and Caribou then finally the Moose.  Of the 4 or 5 moose we saw, many of them were far out in the landscape and a bit difficult to see, but our first sighting was this female cow who presented herself by crossing the road right in front of our bus. Another unique sighting for us.

A very long day of travel but one we will never forget!