Alaska: The Last Frontier Part V - Denali

Well, here is part 5 of my Alaska blogs. If you didn't read my last blog you might not know that I had cancer. I'm fine now—or at least for now—but I really haven't felt like writing. For the most part, I haven't even picked up my camera for several months. Sights I might usually like to photograph I've been taking in through my own eyes, for my own gratification, instead of always seeing everything through a lens. I'm starting to get the urge to use my camera again, which is good, but what I choose to photograph must feel substantial to me.

I will caption the photos below because they will jog my memory. I hope you enjoy them.

My sister, Pam, and I caught this little baby toad at a campground in Houston, AK. We kept it just long enough to enjoy its cute face and photograph it.

Letting the little guy go.

This is the Little Susitna River that ran along the back of the campground. It was about 100 feet from our campsite. After arriving there, Pam and I took a walk along the riverbank. I heard a deep sounding splash and I looked toward where I'd heard it. An otter swam right by us. I didn't have my camera with me at that moment, darn it. But what a thrill.

Just a small fry in the shallows.

Rob flying his hexacopter at the campground in Houston.

Here we are in Denali National Park visiting the sled dogs. This is Finn. The Rangers put on demonstrations for tourists to explain how they use the dogs. You can drive your car only so far into Denali. To go any farther you must take one of the shuttle or bus tours. When out in Denali in one of the buses and when within hearing distance of any of the wildlife, the driver insists that everyone whispers. They do not want the wildlife to hear human voices if at all possible. It is already bad enough that they hear and see the buses. During the winter months, Rangers traverse Denali using only sled dogs. This helps keep the human impact on wildlife to a minimum.

Here is Rob giving Clove a little love.

During the demonstration, one of the Rangers asked which dog was people's favorite. Lots of folks said 'Annie.' Well, that's because Annie is a love. A true sweetie pie who loves people—as you will see in the next photo.

This is Annie giving Pam a big old kiss!

Poor Aliqsi. All she wanted to do was sleep and everyone kept trying to get her attention.

Here is beautiful Finn, again. Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge it. You have to see his amazing eyes.

These dogs work hard so they always appreciate a little snooze time. And Carpe is seizing his.

A few of the 2015 sled dog puppy litter. After the demonstration and after the folks who took the group bus to the kennels left, the rest of us were told to sit on the ground, indian style, with knees touching your neighbor's. This was called the puppy circle. They put four or five pups in the middle for us to hold and play with. They didn't want to be held and they only wanted to play with each other.

This pup's name is Disco. Disco was the most rambunctious of all the puppies and seemed to be the Alpha. He was also the most photogenic.

How can anyone resist such a sweet face.

Yes, we were of the lucky ones. We actually got to see Denali, albeit from a great distance and not while we were actually in the park. 

This Ptarmigan was along the side of the road as our shuttle tour bus drove by.

And baby Ptarmigans on the side of the road. If they hadn't been moving around, they may have been almost invisible.

One of the tourists asked the driver how many bear sightings she's had in a day The answer was six. We say 13 on our day out. Some of them may have been the same bears on our way back as we saw on our way up, but that wasn't the point. The point was they were still visible. All these grizzlies were very blond.

One of the beautiful views in Denali National Park. I had so many more photographs that may have been better, but I lost them. I lost them because I wasn't paying attention when I was transferring them from memory card to computer. I get upset if I think about it too much. C'est la vie.