Alaska, Day 3: 11.5 Grizzlies, "Charming," and Just a Day Hike

Day 3 started with sprinting.  We got up well before 6am so we'd have time to catch the 6:25am bus--the first one to go deep into the park.  Somehow, despite constant time checks, we looked up and realized it was 6:29am and the bus would likely be there.  Julie took off running the quarter mile to the bus stop and successfully flagged it down while it was already on its way.  Gold star, Julie!

We heard about it for an hour afterwards.  The bus driver stopped off for a bus stop bathroom break, told everyone they had 10 minutes and had to be back and on time, and finally remarked, "Because you should all be responsible enough to tell time by now."

It was worth flagging that bus down!  We were the first into the park so we had the first glimpse of wildlife without all the other buses on the road or pressure of schedule.  We first saw a Mama bear with her 2 spring cubs.  We watched them wrestle, chew on a sign (studded with nails so the bears wouldn't destroy it completely), cross the street, and roll around in the grass.

The bus driver hadn't had enough of us, though, and quipped "We'd stay here [and look at bears] longer, but we kind of got held up back there picking up people."  HA!  (We totally won that bus driver over eventually, and we absolutely deserved his initial spite!)

Brady and I left our binoculars at home, but thankfully there was a man behind us that was constantly handing his to us.  The sad thing is I finally noticed he hadn't asked his wife if she wanted to use them.  I  asked her if she wanted a turn, and she said, "Sure!"  Ha!!  (This same man said, "I see more wildlife in zoos" as he noisily ate his potato chips while the rest of us moved slowly and whispered so the bears would stay close to the bus.) 

Another Grizzly Mama and her 2 cubs:

Going deeper into the park was an outstanding decision, both to see wildlife and to get a feel for the land.

Dall Sheep:

Another Grizzly, this time with 2 older cubs!

A fox:

Check out the fox, mid-yawn:

A golden eagle:

Somewhere along the way, we started calling "Team Varney" and "Team Edwards," depending on who spotted the animal.  Team Edwards lost a lot of ground.

Another Grizzly: 

As we approached mile 60, the fog and rained rolled in.  It got bad enough that we knew hiking here would not result in good views.  So, we headed back to the riverbed we wanted to hike the first day, where the weather was nice. 

Caribou in fog.  Someone on the bus asked, "What is the difference between reindeer and caribou?" and I answered, "One can fly."  This is only really funny after midnight, or when you consider that I honestly did not know reindeer were real animals until this trip.

We got to our hiking area by about noon. and created a loop hike along the Tek River and up Igloo Creek.  It involved some rock-climbing, unsuccessful bridge building with a huge tree stump (that finally resulted in a barefoot river crossing--BRR!!!), more bouncy ground, getting really tangled up in the swamp bog, and discovering an island of flowers.

Literally trapped in the swamp and nearly flat on my face (thank you kindly for capturing this, Aaron):

There was no other word for this little island of flowers but "charming." At this point, I'd used that adjective about 50 times.

A tiny waterfall next to the flower island:

Once we made it down into the riverbed, we knew there was no going back and we had to do a loop or hit the swampy entanglements again.  Cue Aaron and Brady's mad navigation skills.

What's that?  Is it wildlife on the hike?  Why, yes it is, and Aaron was right: it is a lot cooler to see it on foot than by bus.

This guy checked us out for ages:

 A shot from Aaron's camera, clinging to a branch:

 We named this trail the "Alaska Animal Highway" (aka AAH) for all the signs of animals along the way.  Prints and animal scat were everywhere.  Here is a bear and a wolf print.

 The braided riverbeds got so choked up with water in places that we were forced to climb up some cliffs and hike through the forest.  We had done this several times, all the while yelling "Hey, Bear!" every few seconds (although on Day 2, after we'd basically been skunked for wildlife, Brady was yelling, "Here, Bear!").  The park rangers make sure you know how serious a grizzly encounter is and how important it is you are very loud on the trail to be sure you don't surprise one.  We had our bear spray upholstered on Brady's hip and we were as careful as possible with food and scents. 

Around this time, we were hiking through thick vegetation when all 4 of us heard an unmistakable growl. It was very low, and very frightening.  Julie was the first to ask, "Did you hear that?"  We all responded affirmatively, kept calm and talking, and grouped together a little better.  Aaron and Brady were talking about the possibilities, and Julie was getting annoyed that Aaron would not acknowledge it was a bear.  Then, we saw a fresh pile of bear scat, with flies and everything.  Aaron told Julie it wasn't that fresh and she was even more annoyed.  Well, as soon as we were out in the clearing, the boys immediately fessed up that it was absolutely a bear growl and Aaron/Brady admitted that they just wanted us to stay calm and get the heck out of there.

Once we were out of the woods (literally and figuratively), it was awesome to realize we'd had such a close encounter.  However, it was definitely not a situation we wanted to run into again!

These were my favorite views in Denali, and my favorite hike in Denali.  Just know that the pictures can't possibly do this place justice. 

More marshy land.  Julie wants a mattress made of this tundra.

 We waited for a bus at about 8:45pm, and started cooking up our dinners with a Jet Boil.  The bus came moments later, and we had our hot bags of food on board (everyone eats on the bus, so it wasn't as rude as it sounds!).  One lady talked our ear off on the way back, commenting on our food and said there was no way she'd pack a backpacker meal on "just a day hike."  She also talked about all the hiking she'd done that day and made sure we knew that her hiking was "NOT easy terrain."  She clearly thought we'd been on the bus pretty much all day and hiked a mile on the road or something.  Her arrogance was hilarious.  We let her believe it, and it was a joke for us the rest of the trip.

Perfect day in Denali: tons of wildlife, challenging hiking, tired/sore bodies, wilderness!!!

Day 3 Totals:
Hours on bus: 6+
Hiked:  10.5 miles (in NOT easy terrain)
Wildlife:  10 Grizzlies plus a growl, wolf, red fox, golden eagle, 24 caribou, 4 sheep from bus; 2 caribou on hike, plus squirrels, magpies, etc.