The High One

Many of the local tribes historically referred to Mt McKinley in their local languages as The High One.

"What do you mean the one with snow on it. They all have snow on them."
"No No. That one. The high one."
"Oh, why didn't you just say so."

On our second day in Denali National Park, we headed deep into the park on one of the shuttle buses. We hoped to see some wild life as the weather hadn't been very good for seeing Mount McKinley.

We spotted a lot of caribou from a fair distance away. Other than a moose running on the road and some ground squirrels, most of the animals were a long way away.

 The scenery in the park changes substantially as you get further.

 The weather wasn't as bad as we had feared and McKinley finally came into view as we got closer.

For even the untrained eye, there is really no doubt about which mountain is the biggest.

 From a long way back we saw a other grizzly and her 2 cubs. The previous year, these bears had taken a swipe at the door of a bus.

 A closer up shot of some caribou.

The end of the road was 92 miles into the park at a place called Wonder Lake. That is, a wonder that Olivia's boots didn't soak through with cold water after her slipping of that rock.

On our way back, we came across a Japanese chap who had apparently started walking in Argentina (A fair distance from here).

 Back in our camp ground, we had a close encounter with the resident Moose mum and her calf. We were told to keep our distance as she has previously placed a couple of people in hospital.

 It is hard to imagine, but they seem to be taller than a bit horse. I wonder if anyone has ever thrown a saddle on one.