I skipped breakfast again, figuring I could collect enough snacks for our sack lunch to cover that when I got hungry. The weather was still crummy heading out, but we were hoping that would bring out the animals. We met Cissy, our bus driver, who it turned out is from Encinitas, CA originally (just north of San Diego)! Things were slow starting out, but at the Polychrome Overlook Kevin found a Golden Eagle sitting on a crag (everyone was amazed that he managed to spot it in the first place)! There was a crag called Marmot Rock here where a Gyrfalcon often perched, but he didn't show, but we did see some distant Dall Sheep up on the mountain. Also at the Savage River (I think) was a small group of Harlequin Ducks. It was also at the first rest stop that I happened to run into Liz and her tour bus, so that was fun! We were looking forward to sharing stories at dinner!
Heading into the National Park Scenes along the main road
One of the many rivers along the route Harlequin Ducks
View from Polychrome Overlook Another overlook
On we went, and we had distant looks at more Dall Sheep, Moose, Caribou, and Grizzly, plus a couple of false alarms (I called a shrike that turned out to be a White-crowned Sparrow, and Marshall called a Hawk Owl that morphed into a Gray Jay; Cissy teased us by saying, "If you make me stop for a magpie, you're off the bus!"). We were stopped for something else and someone spotted a black-capped thing on the ground, swiveling its head back and forth, which for the longest time we couldn't figure out, but when it finally turned in profile it turned out to be a Long-tailed Jaeger on the nest! But the best show was at the Eilson Visitor's Center: a sow Grizzly and three cubs were out feeding in the tundra! There were also a couple of idiots out there with her, trying to take pictures, just as Cissy was warning us not to do just that or be fined (how about, be eaten??) As we all piled out and were directed to the viewing platform (the ranger over the PA sounded like a teacher patiently giving directions to a bunch of rowdy kids), mama bear and her brood eventually came right up to the willows next to the building! What looks! They even caged us in until our busses were ready to pick us up! We also had a freeloading Mew Gull and a cute Say's Phoebe bopping around. Another Arctic Ground Squirrel was snooping around the bus looking for handouts, which prompted a Kevin story illustrating why they don't want you feeding the wildlife: a European tourist was holding up a food item getting the squirrel to "beg" while his friend took a picture, and right in the middle of all these tourists a fox saw his opportunity and ran right in and snatched the squirrel, shook it madly and took off! Everyone was horrified at the fox, but the moral was, that's what happens when you encourage these things that are otherwise alert and quick to get fat and lazy!
Animals along the road... Lady Caribou grazing
The highlight was this mama Grizzly Why they closed the trail...
with her cubs at the Visitor Center!
More Grizzly portraits (check out those claws!)
They eventually made it all the way up to the road and disappeared in the willows (which is why it's so easy to surprise a Grizzly when you're out hiking...)
Freeloading Mew Gull and Arctic Ground Squirrels
We thought nothing could top that, but shortly after we left yet another sow with her single cub was right next to the road! Then later we saw yet another one further away, whose almost-grown cub was using the snow pack as a slide! Bird-wise we had a knock-out Willow Ptarmigan pair right next to the bus, and some Dall Sheep right close to the road! (One guy on our bus who hunts wild game says their meat is marvelous…) We were pretty beat by the end of that: the weather was still crummy and I kept dozing off, but I was looking forward to pizza with the girls!
We spot yet another mama Grizzly with her cub next to the road!
"Wow! Lookit all those weird
animals hanging out of that big box!"
Alaska' state bird (a rather weathered Willow Ptarmigan) puts in an appearance, too! (Female at right)
Dall Sheep
More scenes heading back
The main road was a tight fit sometimes
when you had two busses passing each
other!
By the time we got to the pizza place my friends Liz and Betty had already arrived and ordered, and since the place was crowded, I ended up with Liz and Betty while the rest of the gang sat in the smoky, noisy ol' bar! Kevin let me know when the pizza was ready, so we girls enjoyed a good chat, basically about what we had seen and life in Alaska in general. Liz's take on the bear problem (i.e., how can you bird on your own without risking being eaten?) is to truly talk to yourself as you hike or sing a song; she confirmed that you really do have to be making noise to avoid startling a bear. Pepper spray is a must as well; even Kevin had a big can of the stuff… The crew had a bunch of pizza left over, so Liz and Betty ended up getting it (seeing as we really couldn't store it in the coolers without it getting mushy)! Later I was kicking myself because I had gotten so caught up in conversation that I completely forgot to take pictures of our little reunion (and I had even brought the camera for that very purpose)!
On the way back to the hotel a car was stopped for a cow Moose right next to the road, so we wheeled around and enjoyed her (I thought Marshall was kidding when he said the car was stopped for a Moose, because I didn't see it and he just kept on going, but he was serious and said, "Wanna see it?" Of course we did!) As we were leaving a huge Princess Cruises bus pulled up behind us and took our place; we saw the door open and were concerned the driver was gonna let all these people pile out right next to this animal, but he thankfully didn't.
Moose feeding right next to the road!
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