Our guide today, Scott, made a comment to us at the end of our tour today. He asked us how many of us had come to Alaska to see the bears. We said yes, of course. He commented that we could see the bears any where in the world in a zoo, much better than we could see them today. So did we come to see them in the wild. Yes. He commented that it wasn't just in the wild, that we saw them in an untouched wilderness. Denali is not and has not had any human contact with the wild life at all, you are not allowed to feed them, or go near them, but even better, because it is so big , a bear can be born in Denali and never in its 30 year life ever come in to contact with humans. The corridor of road we went on today was 62 miles long, and is the only road in to the park. You have to go over another 1000 miles before you would see another road and the road we were on today stops at 92 miles.  So what you see is just a tiny piece of awesome, and just so untouched. Today was the second to last day of the opening of the park, it closes for winter, it is only open for three months of the year, part of the condition of the park is that it is closed and that the animals live in complete isolation for most of the year.

from our window at the lodge

Moose!!!  (the photos are taken with the zoom lens form a long distance)

happy Harry checking us in to the park at the head quarters

Caribou

Toklat River

it was raining and snowing today, our muddy bus which we had to wash the windows of each time we stopped

starting in to Savage Point

Grizzly bear digging in the gravel

bear looking at the mess he made in the gravel ........

Polychrome Pass

looking back out to Savage Point

at the top of Polychrome Pass

Mama grizzly bear

Mile 86 or just near

baby bear looking at us and wondering ...and then mama bear came running down the hill to tell her to "get in behind"

the actual view from the bus of the bears with half the zoom lens

this is where the video was taken

back at the bus station, flags half mast today... 9/11 ....