Denali National Park - September 2007Denali National Park never fails to inspire me with the grandeur of nature and the greatness of scale which is Alaska... it truly is "The Great One". I was very lucky this year with my professional photographers permit which gave me excellent dates to be in Denali (Aug. 29-Sept.5). Because the tundra fall colors generally peek in the first couple weeks of Sept., it is the time that all photographers want to be in the park. The fall colors seemed to peek right toward the end of my trip, but I can't say they were the best colors I've seen Denali put out. Nevertheless, Denali was beautiful and majestic as always and the wildlife viewing and photography were exceptional. This seemed to be the year for bears..... Grizzly Bears of course! Just about every day, bears could be found near highway pass. A sow with second summer cubs was seen here a lot, as well as a big male grizzly. One day I was able to watch as the boar got very close to the sow and cubs before mom and the kids realized he was there... after a lot of snorting and huffing, the sow and cubs made a hasty escape with the boar in hot pursuit. At times you forget how fast these giant creatures can tear up the tundra when they are motivated.... once again bringing the rule of "never run from a bear" back to home!
Besides bruins, I also had some great photographic moments with moose, caribou, ptarmigan, pica, beaver, and the "great one" herself Mt. Denali. Spending time at the new beaver pond near the North Face Lodge was a ton of fun and proved quite productive for images. After watching these guys for hours, you could really see why they coined the phrase "busy as a beaver". Not only were they busy keeping their dam in good shape, but the beaver couple also spent several hours a day collecting saplings and larger trees to stash in their winter food cache. Some of these trees were 6 inches thick! Very impressive beavers. Another small mammal I had fun photographing was the Pica. This relative of the rabbit is super cute and is only about 6 inches long. It used to be easy to find them at the parking area near Savage River, but in recent years I haven't seen any there. This year I found a place (thanks to Camp Denali) which had at least one, very friendly little pica who was happy to go about his food gathering and pre-winter activities with a pesky photographer close in tow. Too fun! Remember.... it doesn't always have to be bears or wolves. Speaking of wolves... I was sorry to hear that the Toklat pack which I saw and photographed last year had a major setback with their white alpha female being killed this last winter by a neighboring pack. Unlike so many of the Toklat's members being killed by hunters, at least this was a natural loss!
Other Recent TripsClick on the thumbnail image to view a short report of my recent trip.
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