Weather permitting, we cook outside at the picnic bench on our luxurious 2- burner Coleman stove. Judd was sautéing onions and garlic so we could rewarm and re-spice the fresh salmon from our coast time. He added summer squash and carrots in stages and still had a burner for the tea kettle ( be it for tea or washing-up water.) We’d finished dinner and chores just as we saw a ranger walking to the amphitheater. Checking the schedule, we saw we were on time for the 7:30 Ranger talk, Annette was professional yet perky, clearly excited to tell us what inspires her about working in the wilderness and to educate us about animal safety. Judd and I had already watched the Visitor Center movie on how to be “bear aware.” We know how to identify a black bear from a brown bear (ie. grizzly) despite all their colors ranging from blond to beige to dark brown/black. We know when to wave arms and stand our ground and when to lie on our stomachs and protect our spines with our backpacks. In fact, I’ve been rehearsing my calming-confront -a-bear-speech: “ I am the mother-of-foxes! You will slowly back away as will I or I shall soil myself.” I have not had to use my speech yet, but we’re not out of the Pacific Northwest either.
We were disappointed by the number of massive RVs, with so many amenities, who feel the need to turn on their generators for hours, Yes, the park limits the hours, but really? We saw, on our loop walk, that one camper’s external generator was so obnoxious, he moved it closer to his neighbor ‘s site to charge up. When the Ranger’s program asked what questions we had about the park, I wrote on the white board, “why are generators allowed?”
Day 2, we took a green camp bus at precisely 9:55. Buses, green or brown, had been coming up from mile zero since 6am—about a bus every 30 min. You can jump on and off, if there’s capacity at your chosen stop. We opted for a guaranteed seat, all the he way to the end of the road—mile 96 of the gravel road. We did start our leg of the journey with at least three 2-year-olds. The twin girls, in different aisles with different grandparents, sang songs to each other or themselves, getting louder as the bus narrator got louder. The little British boy, who had toddled around the bus stop trying to give the girls the dusty rocks he was harvesting, made a low hum every time we went over a washboard section of gravel road. This turned his voice into a vibratory solo which surpassed the girls cuteness. He gave himself the giggles, then his parents, who looked like a young Colin Firth married Megan Markel, then Judd the giggles. All the families got off at the Eielson Visitor Center leaving our entertainment to the occasional wildlife siting and the bus narrator.
They said to plan on a 12 hour tour— bring your own food and water. We cut off 3hours by not starting until mike 29z The bus stopped about every 30-40 min at either s Rest stop or visitor site, At every stop. Our driver gave the same spiel ( granted, new people boarded at every stop.).
In a deadpan, monotone? With ironic emphasis? The narrator (also the driver) would say, “THANK you for using your seat.......and seat belt, Your seat belt.....seat.....belt “ under his breath? “I don’t have to do this.”
“If you talk MORE, I talk less.”” “This bus will leave the rest stop at 12:10......12:10.....12;10......if you are late for this bus, you will be early for the next bus; early for the next bus. Buses don’t wait for people; people wait for buses.” He reiterated, EVERY time we stopped.....we knew his rules better than he did. Back a week ago, after a glacier hike, we’d met a guy, Tim, who had already done the Denali bus tour deal, (He also knows the Elliott’s of Pleasant Pond, Maine.) He’d told us to try to get Omar for our driver—we longed, for a moment, for Omar the driver, At the next stop, come to discover, our quirky guy IS Omar. We did warm up to his style and he did show us a good time (AND did not roll over the bus.) By a good time, he spotted? Or paused when someone else spotted: moose,Dahl sheep ( tiny white dots high up in the crevices), Grizzly mom with two cubs TIMES 3 sightings! caribou, Caribou, caribou, a fox, ptarmigan, many hare squirrels and maybe a pika. Judd spotted something on a cliff above us— Everyone was craning their necks to spot—he believed it to be a goat about to jump on the bus, Indiana Jones-style.
What we did NOT spot? Was Denali “the great one” peak.We’re in the top 70%. (They say about 30% of visitors see the peak during their stay. We have very vivid imaginations so we’re all good,
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