While we were in the park learning some great things from Terry, Sarah, and Margi, we did happen to experience some of the wonderful sights the park has to offer. In Denali people talk about “the big five” animals in the area, which are the five large mammals that can be found in this climate. This group is made up of moose, caribou, bears, Dall Sheep, and wolves. I have been fortunate enough to see many moose and caribou during my time in Alaska. I have even seen a few Grizzly Bears this season. The two I have not seen yet in the wild are the Dall Sheep and the wolves.
This is one of the Dall Sheep we saw. This one had crossed the road in front of the van and quickly made its way i up the ridge.
The Dall Sheep are generally found on the mountain sides overlooking the road in the park. The steep slopes help them to escape predators that are not so adapted. They are white to light brown in color, which helps them blend in during the winter months but doesn’t do them much good for protection in the summer. I do feel the light color helps them stay cool in the warmer temperatures. Both the female and the male can have horns, with the male’s horns being larger in size. They are shy creatures that stay out of sight as much as possible.
We spotted a single sheep in a valley below the road. It was moving through the brush and when we came around the corner it was crossing the road not too far in front of us. We took pictures from the van as it continued to run up the side of the slope and over the ridge.
The wolves in Denali have a long history of research. In 1939, Dr. Adolph Murie began one of the first formal studies of wolves in the park. There is now more than 60 years of research on the packs that live here. Wolves are very social animals that live in organized packs. There are around 100 wolves moving in 12 packs in Denali. The wolf has a brain that is nearly twice the size of a dog’s, but still faces large challenges for survival in the wild. The wolf and pups we saw are thought to be part of the Nenana Pack that is being monitored.
This female came out of the brush on the same trail that we had used just a short time before.
These two pups came out of the brush all alone. When they looked at us they decided it was safer in the bushes and made a hasty retreat. We moved away so that they would not feel pressure from us being there.
After the pup caught up with the female they both continued up the trail and over the ridge.
We had just hiked the first portion of the Primrose Trail when we spotted a animal coming out of the brush where we had walked. It was a very dark wolf that veered off to the right so that is could walk around us and back to the upper part of the trail. A few minutes later a small wolf pup came out of the same place in the bushes and began crying. It was moving much slower and was pretty far from the adult at this point. The pup slowly made its way up the hillside calling as it went. The adult stopped and waited and even gave a short call back to the pup. About ten minutes later the next two pups popped out of the brush and froze as they looked at us. They decided to retreat back into the cover of the Alders.
Out of all of the bears we saw this one came down and crossed the road right after we passed. Another park bus was there also.
We saw a high number of bears also. Two of them had cubs with them and one of them came right down to the road as several vehicles were in the area. He crossed the road and went on his way like nothing was going on.
For the entire four days we caught sight of 2 moose, 2 Dall sheep, 7 caribou, 8 bears, and the wolf and her three pups. To top it all off we had a spectacular show on Wednesday, put on by Mt. McKinley!
We even had a spectacular view of Mt. McKinley!