Wading wolf
Heading for the woodsCopyright 2007 Lydia Hinshaw
DENALI NATIONAL PARK, AK -- Five wolves, or maybe six. Four caribou. A couple of dozen Dall sheep. One moose. One bear.
No wonder my customers were happy Thursday. They'd scored the Denali big five before we were even halfway through our six-hour bus-run into the park.
The wolves, the least likely to be seen of the big five, were the highlight of a day when low clouds shrouded the mountains and light rain quieted the dust.
We saw the first wolf just prior to our first rest stop, by the Teklanika River. She (we think) darted in and out of the woods along the road, miffed that several buses were using the open space she would have preferred to travel on herself.
Everyone was still excited about the wolf 20 minutes later. After our rest stop, we were rolling slowly across the bridge over the Teklanika and I was explaining that bear and caribou are often seen here.
A sharp-eyed passenger spotted two wolves in the distance, headed our way. And two more behind them. And yet another, who looked suspiciously like the lone wolf we'd seen earlier and just a short distance away.
I stopped the bus and shut off the engine. The wolves walked purposefully toward us, wading through shallow channels of the braided river. They crossed the road behind us, headed back down onto the gravel bars by the river and passed by on our right. One by one, they swam across a deeper channel. One floundered briefly, and seemed in danger of being swept away by the current.
Out of the water, they shook themselves like dogs, and disappeared into the woods.
My point-and-shoot got me some usable pictures, though I was frustrated to have to shoot several frames, including the smaller one above, through the windshield. Getting out of the bus in such close proximity to wildlife is a major no-no.
But, hey, I was sitting in the middle of Alaska with a wolfpack circling my bus, and getting paid for it too. Pretty amazing.
No wonder my customers were happy Thursday. They'd scored the Denali big five before we were even halfway through our six-hour bus-run into the park.
The wolves, the least likely to be seen of the big five, were the highlight of a day when low clouds shrouded the mountains and light rain quieted the dust.
We saw the first wolf just prior to our first rest stop, by the Teklanika River. She (we think) darted in and out of the woods along the road, miffed that several buses were using the open space she would have preferred to travel on herself.
Everyone was still excited about the wolf 20 minutes later. After our rest stop, we were rolling slowly across the bridge over the Teklanika and I was explaining that bear and caribou are often seen here.
A sharp-eyed passenger spotted two wolves in the distance, headed our way. And two more behind them. And yet another, who looked suspiciously like the lone wolf we'd seen earlier and just a short distance away.
I stopped the bus and shut off the engine. The wolves walked purposefully toward us, wading through shallow channels of the braided river. They crossed the road behind us, headed back down onto the gravel bars by the river and passed by on our right. One by one, they swam across a deeper channel. One floundered briefly, and seemed in danger of being swept away by the current.
Out of the water, they shook themselves like dogs, and disappeared into the woods.
My point-and-shoot got me some usable pictures, though I was frustrated to have to shoot several frames, including the smaller one above, through the windshield. Getting out of the bus in such close proximity to wildlife is a major no-no.
But, hey, I was sitting in the middle of Alaska with a wolfpack circling my bus, and getting paid for it too. Pretty amazing.
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