Caribou in velvet.
This young moose would not get out of the road to let the bus pass.
A mama grizzly and her older cub that is as big as she is. You might have to zoom in.
Dall sheep mamas and babies.
Sunday, May 29
Bob got up at 5:30 to walk Ben to make sure he would be OK for the seven hours he would be in the trailer. Again we made sure he had all of his comfort things with his blanket, toys, air, and TV.
We arrived at our bus stop with tickets, lunches, and cameras at 6:40. Our bus left at 7:00 and was a big green school bus called a shuttle bus that stopped at different bus stops along the way back into the Toklat River. Hikers could also flag the buses down from any point along the road. It was a 6 1/2 hour round trip if you just rode in and right back out. It was not an actual tour bus, but the driver, Beth Sturgeon, was in her 15th year as a driver, was very knowledgeable, and told us she would stop for any wildlife sightings. This ride was $25 each and much cheaper than the formal tour buses. It was also shorter and better for us with our concern for Ben.
The road in was bumpy, narrow, and gravel as we climbed into the high country. We were so close to the edge sometimes which dropped straight off, and buses actually had to pass each other. I could not look!
We saw ptarmigans and snowshoe rabbits. We stopped at our first rest stop and as we waited by the viewing area, people spotted a lone black wolf playing around the river bed below. We watched for quite a while with field glasses. Our driver said it was pretty unusual to sight a wolf and the tone of the trip continued on from there.
We were absolutely blessed, seeing animals at every turn. We saw moose, caribou,a mama grizzly with her older cub, and Dall sheep. It was an amazing drive. Our driver said that once in a great while, they don't spot any animals or often they might only see a couple. She said they call drives like ours "Grand Slam Days." We were thrilled!
As we got back to the visitor center, we even saw a moose right in the parking lot feeding on the new green shoots on trees. People were taking pictures from their cars.
When we got back to the trailer, Ben was just fine, so we took him for a walk and for ice cream. We took showers to wash off all of the dust and fixed a nice dinner in our trailer. We fried the Fiddlehead Ferns the Cox family gave us in olive oil with garlic and they were delicious.
The Australians got back from their 8 hour, $125 tour bus ride and were hot and dusty and had only seen a few sheep. We were sad for them, but it made us appreciate even more our truly "Grand Slam Day!"
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