I arrived in Denali the evening of Sunday June 8,2008, not wanting to waste the evening when there was so much light, I decided to explore the first 15 miles of the park road. When I got as far as was allowed by private vehicle, I decided to take a 2 mile hike along Savage River, hoping to see Dall Sheep. It was clear and sunny and about 7pm. I did notice some other hikers on the opposite side of the river. I thoughly enjoyed the fresh air and serenity of the river while closely checking out the lichens and tiny flowers just beginning to bloom! I really liked the Arctic Willows above!Evenutally a mile later, I came to a small bridge that allowed me to cross and head 
back the way I came, hopefully offering even more diversity. I could have went further, but it was all uphill tundra with no other hikers venturing on beyond this point, and with the growing storm clouds, I felt it prudent to head back.
On the right side of the glacially carved valley, I spotted 2 caribou casually grazing, and 2 photographers with rather large and expensive zoom lenses. Now, I have always been advised to stay 75 yars from hooved animals, and not to disrupt them. Appearantly, these two did not heed that warning. As I kept hiking, I watched the animal paparazzi try to "sneak up" on them. When the one got about 100 feet away from the caribou, it quickly turned to face the idiot, got a really wide stance with an aggressive posture and then charged him! He reached him in less than a blink of an eye and veered off at the last moment, only missing him be a few feet! (I wonder if he got that shot?) Needless to say, the photogs retr
eated, a good lesson learned. The
back the way I came, hopefully offering even more diversity. I could have went further, but it was all uphill tundra with no other hikers venturing on beyond this point, and with the growing storm clouds, I felt it prudent to head back.On the right side of the glacially carved valley, I spotted 2 caribou casually grazing, and 2 photographers with rather large and expensive zoom lenses. Now, I have always been advised to stay 75 yars from hooved animals, and not to disrupt them. Appearantly, these two did not heed that warning. As I kept hiking, I watched the animal paparazzi try to "sneak up" on them. When the one got about 100 feet away from the caribou, it quickly turned to face the idiot, got a really wide stance with an aggressive posture and then charged him! He reached him in less than a blink of an eye and veered off at the last moment, only missing him be a few feet! (I wonder if he got that shot?) Needless to say, the photogs retr
eated, a good lesson learned. Thepicture is of the caribou starting to charge. I had not expected this and was not prepared to photograph it! 
Anyway, I continued my hike and about 1/4 mile further downstream, only a few feet in front of me was an Arctic Snowshoe Hare! I literally froze and he continued to munch on the growing grasses and flowers for several minutes!
Anyway, I continued my hike and about 1/4 mile further downstream, only a few feet in front of me was an Arctic Snowshoe Hare! I literally froze and he continued to munch on the growing grasses and flowers for several minutes!
About 30 seconds later 2 feet from my left was a female Willow Ptarmigan! Just ike the hare, bery comfortable, but she did keep a very close eye on me! Shortly after the skies grew even darker as I scrambled for my raingear and the car, making it just in time! my reward for this hike..just around the corner, a BEAUTIFUL double rainbow! The next morning, on the bus delivering me to North Face Lodge, just a mile from where I was hiking, was a mother grizzly and 2 year-old cubs feasting on fresh moose calf kill! Boy, I sure am glad I didn't continue further on that trail over the hill!!!
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