A Day On The Denali Park Road

August 5, 2010
Denali Park Road

We came through Polychrome Pass late June and saw a band of mature Dall sheep. They appeared to be agitated.

Their attention was focused across the road. To our right a lone wolf had come from above and scared them across the road. They are looking at the wolf as it tried to come down the mountain.

The sheep take refuge on some steep rocky slope, still keeping a close eye on the direction of the wolf, who has now disappeared from sight.

Stony Hill overlook 62 miles into the park, out of the bus to photograph Mount Denali.

Farther down the road at the new west end visitor center, 66 miles into the park. Mount Denali 20320 feet, 33 miles away. 70% of the time we don’t see it.

A few days later we are climbing up Thoroughfare pass 64 miles in, and a gray wolf walks down the road into the bushes and pulls out a snack!

The snack turns out to be the hind quarter of a caribou.

One in fifteen attemps at taking down a caribou proves successful. This is a happy wolf.

These are the wolf’s main prey. Two healthy bull caribou feeding on horsetail shoots.

Caribou are also very intelligent creatures; this guy gives us the once over! The antler can bud out 44 inches and weigh 25 pounds, an annual growth.

We came through Polychrome Pass in late June 2010 and saw a band of mature Dall sheep.They appeared to be agitated. Their attention was focused across the road. To our right a lone wolf had come from above and scared them across the road. They stared at the wolf as it tried to come down the mountain. The sheep then took refuge on a steep rocky slope, still keeping a close eye on the direction of the wolf, who then disappeared from sight.