Grizzly bear lumbered down the middle of the creek, and the fish tried to scatter. Not all escaped. We witnessed this scene over and over for three days in a very unique little town in Alaska.
The first thing I noticed was the fishy smell. Then I heard thrashing sounds in the water ten feet below the boardwalk. Gulls swooped down and began pecking at the carcasses - fish missing their skin, about 14" long in life, now showing pink insides - Chum salmon littered the grassy bank. All of a sudden dozens of live salmon flailed in the shallow water, swimming wildly. A Grizzly bear lumbered down the middle of the creek, and the fish tried to scatter. Not all escaped. We witnessed this scene over and over for three days in a very unique little town in Alaska. When they are three years old, Chum Salmon return to spawn at Fish Creek after traveling thousands of miles from creek to river to ocean. It's a miraculous journey to consider, yet a sad one to watch as they finally arrive home. It means their life is over as the females lay eggs and the males fertilize them. Once accomplished, they flounder in the water - their flapping slowly diminishes, they swim on their side, and finally succumb. Unless of course a predator quickly ends their life. Every Summer at Fish Creek, thousands of salmon return, feeding a food chain that includes many animals we got to witness. Just inside the Tongass National Forest in Hyder, AK, a few miles from the British Columbia, Canada border, runs Fish Creek. Years ago the National Forest Service erected a boardwalk along Fish Creek, and for about 8-10 weeks in July and August visitors come here for a unique experience. From 6am-10pm, the staff collects fees and oversees protection of the public and the wildlife while people come to watch bears feeding on salmon. Black bears, Grizzly bears, Eagles, Herons, Gulls and some years wolves come to fish. Even minks feed on the fry (young salmon), and otters and beavers swim in the lagoon on one side of the boardwalk. For $5 you can purchase a day pass and for $10 you can purchase a 3-day pass, which we did. You have to be willing to wait since you never know when the bears will show up, of if. We were lucky and saw bears each day. There's a campground and motel about 5 miles away in Hyder (population 100) with more services about 10 miles across the border in Stewart, Canada. We chose to camp in a fee spot near the gravel pit, about a half mile from the boardwalk, so we could bike to Fish Creek. This way we could ride back to the RV for meals (no food allowed on boardwalk) and have additional chances to see wildlife along the road. (Mostly we just heard the bears fishing in the creek across the road but couldn't see through the high brush.). We hadn't planned to go to Hyder, but as we traveled through the Yukon south to BC, we stopped at the Watson Lake Visitor Center where we had stopped when we headed towards Denali. On a hand-out for the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy (Rt 37) heading south, the staff highlighted Fish Creek and said the salmon were running, and so the bears had arrived. My eyes lit up, and I said to Terry, "we're going to Hyder." Highway 37 is another bumpy gravel road in parts, but little traveled and very scenic. Along the way we camped at roadside pull-outs beside beautiful rivers surrounded by mountains. One night a bicyclist stopped to pitch his tent. From the Netherlands, at 32, Bart had biked around the world including through Iran, Central and South America, Indonesia, Malaysia and other places. We served him tea and dinner and enjoyed hearing about his travels. That same night, a motor cyclist stopped for photos. It was Jaquin, someone we met about 5 days earlier on the Dempster Highway! He had driven his bike from Seattle to Inuvik, Northwest Territory, dipped his toes in the Arctic Ocean and was heading home. We told him about Fish Creek and ran into him on the boardwalk a few days later! Our first night at the Fish Creek Bear Viewing Boardwalk, we only had to wait about a half hour before a large grizzly (nicknamed Dog Bear) came to fish. Many folks had waited all day, 12 hours! (People bring books, iPads, embroidery, etc to help pass the time.). Within another half hour as Dog Bear fished the eastern side of the boardwalk, a black bear arrived near the western end and walked over to the grass where Dog Bear had left a carcass. (Grizzlies often eat just the choice skin, brain and roe which have the most protein.) The black bear sat down to eat the carcass, still fresh. It's common here and elsewhere for bears to tolerate other bears when there's an abundance of food like during the salmon runs. Fish Creek is shallow by the boardwalk and quite clear so we can see the salmon, live and dead, noticing the black stripe along the bottom of the males. From the eastern end of the boardwalk about 50 yards away is an eagle's nest with two parents visible, but only their heads, since the nest is so deep. Sometimes they feast on the carcasses too. As you walk toward the end of the boardwalk, about half way down on the right is a beautiful green lagoon, made possible by beaver. One day I pleasantly passed a morning watching for hours as a mink ran from the lagoon, under the boardwalk to the creek catching fry and returning with them to the lagoon. After she had done this at least 5 times, I lost track of her. Soon we were entertained when an otter swam from the far side of the lagoon in our direction and began chasing a salmon, nearly as big as he was. He didn't catch the salmon which I suppose eventually swam out the lagoon towards the creek. There's a beaver dam that the forest service tears a hole in the middle of when salmon are running so the fish can make it to their spawning grounds. One evening we saw the beaver return to his dam with branches to begin repairs So while you wait for bears here, there are lots of other creature to watch: herons, gulls, ravens, songbirds and others. We didn't see any sows with cubs fishing at the boardwalk, but we did see momma black bear and a cub crossing the road, and campers near us at the gravel pit said she comes through regularly to cross the road and returns four hours later, crossing through the gravel pit. Seventeen miles west of Fish Creek on a gravel road lies Salmon Glacier which is beautiful and worth the trip. This is one of dozens of area glaciers, but this one you can drive close to and look down into the crevasses. We were lucky to see the glacier unobscured by clouds. It was 55° F at the summit lookout, 10 degrees colder than Fish Creek. If you're ever in western British Columbia, we highly recommend taking the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy (Rt 37) and making a side trip to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK especially in July or August when the salmon come to feed the bears.
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It's 19 times the weight of water, shimmers in your pan, and in 1898 a fever for this metal in the ground transformed a moose pasture and fish camp into a metropolis within 2 years. I'm talking about gold and the rush in the Yukon which multiplied the citizens of Dawson City from under 5,000 in 1896 to nearly 40,000 by 1898. Tucked into the northwestern corner of the Yukon, Dawson City and the surrounding area produces 88% of all gold mined in the Yukon. And in 1904, the Klondike was the 4th largest producer of gold in the world. We came here for three reasons: the Top of the World Highway is a route from AK to Yukon that is different than the way we came, we wanted to pan for gold, and we were curious about this town and its history. Today Dawson is home to about 1300 people, and the dredges still mine for gold. Back in 1898 when the rush was on, gold seekers had to pack their goods over the Chilkoot Pass, and it took about 40 trips to haul a ton of supplies 33 miles, totaling 2600 exhausting miles over icy trails through blizzards and sub zero temperatures. The list of supplies required included: 400 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of beans, and 100 pounds of sugar, to name just a few. We had it easy hauling our car and RV over the Top of the World Highway, but it was a rough road through dense fog and rain. We stayed for 5 days (7/21-7/25/16) during which time Shady got stronger after her recent illness, we heard some music at the Dawson City Music Festival, we learned about the town's history, and we planned for gold! Just at the eastern edge of town is Claim 33 where for $15.75 (Canadian - about US $11) they will show you how to pan and guarantee you find gold. It's true I did strike it rich with a few flakes in my pan, but that was in the pan already when she gave it to me, and I leaned over a trough by the building. After a quick lesson, you can borrow the pan and go down to Claim 6 (or buy a pan and go any time), trying your hand in the "wild." Terry and I did this as it started to rain. We didn't have any luck down by the creek where you have to shovel down into the ground, remove the large rocks carefully, then tilt your pan through the water carefully, shaking the pan so the gold flakes, heavier than water will settle in the crease of the pan. We tried for less than an hour, then returned our pan to the vendor. A man near us found some flakes and sucked them out of his pan with a small plastic container. He said he had likely accumulated a quarter of an ounce (not sure how long it took him but weeks or months) and gave some flakes to his grandkids who were very excited. Terry and I have never had a lot of gold jewelry, nor did we expect to find a nugget, but it was fun to try and it was something different! While in Dawson we visited the Jack London museum and listened to an interpreter in costume talk about his life. London hauled the ton of supplies through the Chilkoot Pass, and while he didn't stay long in the Yukon, his time here made a profound impression on him and his writing. The museum houses lots of photographs and writings plus some short films and his cabin has been moved and reconstructed to the museum site. Also in Dawson is the cabin of Robert Service, another famed writer of the Yukon. My friend Vicki sent me his poem THE CREMATION OF SAM McGEE which we read and enjoyed, and then we camped at Lake Laberge, central in the poem! At the confluence of the Klondike River and the Yukon River, as many as 70 sternwheelers were in the river at one time. Today you can tour the Keno riverboat and listen to costumed interpreters describe these ships. The town also offers walking tours led by costumed interpreters: one tour focuses on the gold rush, one on the town then and now, and one on the "strange things done in the midnight sun." There are also good restaurants, gift shops and general stores. The "land of the midnight sun," the "land beyond," and "larger than life" are all phrases used to describe the Yukon Territory. All are appropriate, and we especially like the Land of Midnight Sun. We can't remember when we last saw a really dark sky, probably 8-10 weeks so it definitely fits. While we were in Dawson, it was gloomy and rainy most of the time and we camped in a wooded area, but still light shone through the shower's roof at night. We never had the Yukon on our bucket list, but boy have we enjoyed it, twice now: once on the way to AK and now again on our way back to the lower 48. One day we took a day trip from Dawson up the Dempster Highway. This road leads past the Arctic Circle to Inuvik where you can stick your toe in the Arctic Ocean (we didn't go that far). It's another rough road, pot-holed and washboarded, and the brochures warn you to fill up your tank and bring 2 extra tires because there's very little service. We found it wasn't as bumpy as the Top of the World, and fortunately we did NOT have any flat tires. We traveled there because someone gave us a tip to drive it to Tombstone Territorial Park. What a gorgeous place and wonderfully wild. This unique wilderness is a legacy to the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in people and is a place where the forest meets tundra. It was misting rain and cloudy most of the day, but we saw foxes, beaver, eagles and a Gyrfalcon and before we left the skies cleared and we saw a double rainbow, one of which was nearly horizontal. At the visitor center you can taste Labrador tea the natives make, see stuffed Peregrine Falcons and Gyrfalcons to learn the difference and see great displays. We highly recommend this park for folks traveling the Yukon, and if we hadn't had Shady with us we would have hiked some. But it was nice to take the dogs on an outing and see yet another truly wild and beautiful place.
The Top of the World Highway is a stretch of dirt that's wash boarded, potholed and rough - running 185 miles from Tok, AK to Dawson City in the Yukon. It boasts spectacular scenery, and there is no doubt about that from what we saw. But most of what we saw was glimpsed through heavy fog, rain and brains that were rattled by not only the bumps in the road, but the fragile health of our beloved dog, Shady. Just days earlier, a vet in Fairbanks had taken blood for her thyroid check and some allergy symptoms (turns out she has a Urinary trac infection), and now poor Shady was having trouble breathing. She was wheezing/gagging, and we were scared to death...trying desperately to make it to the next town with a veterinarian. The night before we had driven about 180 miles south of Fairbanks and arrived in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal, internet, nor nearby prospects for either, when Shady sounded like she might literally cough up a lung. I questioned whether we should have pushed forward to Tok so we could at least search the web for side effects of the drug Dr. Wood prescribed, but we camped and rested after a long day. (Our Subaru had to go in for service un-expectantly - $900 and 8 hours later, we were finally on the road.) The Dr. had prescribed Enrofloxacin which cost $83; of the many antibiotics, this one was foreign to us and 4 times the cost of most she has taken in her long life (Ciprofloxacin, Amoxicillin, Cephalexin). In the morning, we hurried down the road, and when we finally got a signal to call the vet, she wasn't due in until 11am. We spoke with her colleague who told us to look on YouTube for videos of reverse sneezing and laryngial paralysis. We did and thought her gagging was more like laryginal paralysis, and we waited 3 hours for Dr. Wood to call us back. Her advice: continue with the medicine, add Benadryl to the mix, and see a vet in the next town (7 hours away). So off we set on the Top of the World, feeling like we were sinking to the bottom. Literally at the top of a long stretch up a mountain, the fog began to roll in and enshroud us as we were looking at the beautiful lush valley from the top of the world. I felt it was an omen for poor Shady's condition. I didn't know what type of tools the vet in the Yukon would have, what pharmacy stock he might draw from. I knew the folks in Tok had to get their doctor (no vets) to send prescriptions to Walmart in Fairbanks and have medicine mailed since the store is 200 miles away. And since the 185 mile drive to Dawson City took 7 hours - with a loss of an hour at the Canadian border when time shifts to Pacific time - we were in for a restless night waiting for Friday to arrive so we could see another vet. At the end of the Top of the World Highway is the mighty Yukon River and a ferry that runs 23 hours a day. We found a provincial campground just before the ferry, and decided to give our tired and rattled souls a break for the night. I prayed and prayed to God to give Shady comfort and hold her in His arms...I prayed that He would spare her and let Dr. John Overell determine a new course of treatment that would give her more time on Earth. But I also prayed that if she were suffering and at the end of her life, to take her swiftly. In the middle of the night, I got down on the RV floor with her and petted her softly, trying not to set off a coughing spell. The Benadryl helped sedate her and minimized the coughing...I gave her more at 1:30am. In the morning, we waited for the ferry (2 trips of other cars) and drove through the historic gold rush town of Dawson City - in the "Land of Beyond." Out past the airport and the volunteer fire department, where the electric pole supports a painted dragon and the #41, that's where the vet has a home office in his trailer. The campground rangers told us not to be put off by the uncleanliness we would find at his place. They assured us he provided quality care, and after all, he was the only vet in town. We kept our rain coats on and kept Rocket in the car. Inside the front door was floor place for Shady, no examining table. Dr. John answered the phone when it rang, explaining to us he was all by himself and had to do everything. He read carefully the notes from Dr. Wood via email that I had on my I-phone as he remarked "I don't have one of these." In his late 50's or early 60's, he exclaimed he was "old school," and he questioned what some vets think is the normal range for dog temperature (in Celcius) as he took Shady's temp (which by the way Dr. Wood in the fancy clinic with X-rays, ultrasound, on-site lab didn't do). We liked his "old school" no-nonsense approach and how he arrived at his conclusions. He said there's likely fluid in Shady's lungs and that an inexpensive antibiotic might clear it, but that we should have an x-Ray taken when we get to Whitehorse (another 300 miles away). He counted out 40 Amoxycillin capsules and put them in a plastic baggie, marking dosage with a Sharpie on the bag ($19). He said in defense of the other vet that dogs and people can suddenly become allergic to something - perhaps Enrofloxacin for Shady, as he had recently after many years become allergic to raw tomatoes. He said Shady may have Cushing's disease which both he and Dr. Wood said may explain other symptoms (increased thirst and urine, heavy panting, lack of hair regrowth, etc). The problem with diagnosing Cushing's is it's tricky to diagnose. AND we would need to stay somewhere for 2 weeks for the testing. If the disease is present and treatment started, Shady's cortisol levels have to be closely monitored over another few weeks as complications can be fatal. So here's where not having a home base and living like vagabonds becomes a challenge. For now, we're taking one day at a time. We started Amoxicillin last night, and her gagging fits are fewer. She's eating (from our hands), and her breathing is not as labored. The weather since we arrived has remained gloomy - it's cloudy and been raining off and on for 36 hours, and it was like that in Fairbanks too - going on 5 days now. We left the dogs in the RV late yesterday (Friday) and rode the ferry to town for the 38th annual Dawson City Music Festival. We didn't recognize the names of the acts so didn't buy the weekend pass ($148), but we did hear two of the free groups playing at the gazebo on the river. Both acts were just glad to have arrived, even though their plane was late due to the fog in the mountains; earlier in the day, they weren't sure they would be able to land at all! As it was, the sun shone for a few brief moments while we listened to TWIN BANDIT. The beautiful harmony of two young ladies playing acoustic guitar, they sounded like angels in the "Land Beyond," and on an acapella song, I heard their high notes echo off the mountain across the river. Next up were some rocking young women playing electric guitar and bass with a drummer - MISS QUINCY AND THE SHOWDOWN. Their music was described as whiskey with fire poured on, and they jammed a mellow set for the picnic audience and explained it would be ratcheted up a notch when they took the main stage tomorrow night at 10pm. We headed back to our RV to make dinner, before they finished their set. As we waited for the ferry, the rain arrived in torrents making us wonder what's next for dear Shady if this weather continues to be a metaphor for her health. Thanks to all who are praying for her and sending up healing thoughts!
We have been to Denali National Park 3 times and after this last 2-week stay, have some tips to offer for those who might want to visit. Even if you're not planning a trip here though, embedded in these tips are some of the experiences we had recently. BIKE THE PARK Our last shuttle ticket into the park, we reserved bike passes. Each shuttle bus has a rack that will hold 2 bikes. Since we haven't been able to ride our bikes west into the park from our campground (due to the 5 mile bear activity closure), we decided to take them on the bus. We got off at Teklanika rest stop at mile 30 and road passed the East Fork of Toklat River. Biking is a great way to see the park. You can fully enjoy the scenery around you, get some exercise, cover more ground than if hiking, and stop when you want. We scoped with our binoculars some favorite spots along the way and after lunch were coming down the hill from Sable Pass when we saw stopped buses ahead. We figured there was an animal sighting and sure enough, the next bus to reach us warned there was a bear ahead. We slowly approached watching to our right and watching the bus visitors focus to our right. When we spotted the beautiful blonde bear with a dark brown rump, he was walking and eating grasses on a hillside a few hundred yards away, oblivious to the fact he was being photographed by scores of people. After enjoying watching him, we continued up a steep hill and turned around after about 45 minutes. Once down the hill, we watched him some more for about 45 minutes. Now he was further in the distance. From our bikes we also watched a pair of Arctic ground squirrels chase each other, tumble over one another and scramble off. We watched 5 Ravens in flight land on a rocky peak squawking for some time. The weather was cool and cloudy, great for biking. At the pass the wind was cool enough that I put fleece gloves over my bike gloves and was cold, but I warmed up once shielded by a mountain down the pass. While Terry is used to biking 25-50 miles at a time, we opted for about 17 miles and then returned on the bus which allowed us to cover more ground and not exhaust me. Still we were gone from the dogs over 7 hours when you add in bus time and animal watching. I highly recommend biking the park if you plan to come. If you fly, I don't know if there are any bike rentals in nearby Healey, and there is limited bike space on the buses, but what a way to experience this beautiful wilderness! STAY AT LEAST 3 DAYS We meet a lot of folks in the campground who are only here for 1-3 days. In fact we've met no one who has stayed as long as us, the maximum of 14 days. It's a hard park to reach so if vacation is limited and used up just getting here, understandably the stay in the actual park is shortened. But to really enjoy Denali, you need at least one day on the bus, one day on the bus to a hike (or where you get off and at least walk around), and one day to drive the paved part of the road, see the visitor center & movie and watch the dog sled team demo. Bus tickets range from $26.50-51.00 depending on how far into the park you are going. But you can buy a 3-day pass for cost of 2 and use them on non-consecutive days. Even though the road is only 92 miles long, the speed limit is 35mph and buses stop to watch wildlife, stop at rest areas and gift shops, so the shortest ride is 6.5 hours round trip. The longest is 12 hours! CONSIDER TAKING A DISCOVERY HIKE There are 2 ranger-led hikes with 10 other visitors, through different parts of the park each day. We took one with Ranger Bill near the Sanctuary River into a remote part of the wilderness. It started just off the road across from an area closed to hiking due to wolf den activity. Of course I chose it with hopes we would glimpse a wolf. We didn't see any animals, but we were bushwhacking through high willows and brush yelling "hey bear," per the ranger's instructions. The thing I liked about it was that we got to see a part of the park that most people will never see. The ranger had scouted it out beforehand and took us by the river bank where we saw caribou tracks, moose and caribou hair caught on bushes or on the ground, and a moose jaw left long ago. The ranger also gave us interesting information about the park and flora/fauna. We prefer to do things away from large groups and only did 1 Discovery hike, but it was worth doing; and, I think it's a way to hike in the wild part of the park with safety in numbers. BE PREPARED FOR CHANGING WEATHER
We have had cold mornings where we needed the heat in the RV. We have had hard rains and thunderstorms. (One day while we were gone, Rocket in his angst caused by the thunder, tore up the rug in a corner of the bedroom!) We have had cloudy starts to our days with cool mornings that warm up to 60-65°F, and we have had some afternoons in the 80's. Layered clothing or backpacks with additional clothes is the answer. CONSIDER CAMPING AT TEKLANIKA We have enjoyed Savage River Campground, and it was best for us because from here you can drive your personal vehicle down the paved section of the park road (12.8 miles) to watch wildlife or go to the visitor center, buy sundries and do laundry or take showers (all a half-hour away). However, if you stay at Teklanika, you are further into the park where more wildlife are seen and don't have to spend as much time on a bus (saves an hour travel time from the entrance or a half hour from our campground). The catch is you HAVE to reserve for 3 nights and while you can drive your camper/car in, you can't drive your vehicle on the park road until you leave. Apparently if you drive your car down to the visitor center before your set departure date, in order to return to Teklanika you must book another 3 nights. This rule is to keep the traffic on this stretch of the road to a minimum, save the bus traffic. Campers here can purchase a Tek Pass which allows you to ride any of the buses during your stay for a discounted rate. There are no showers or hookups at any of the campgrounds of which there are 3 for RV and tents and two more for just tents. For those tents only and for backcountry camping, you must register, pay a fee, watch a movie about safety in bear country, and then get your permit which certifies you to backcountry camp for 1 year. LOOK FOR ANIMALS EVERYWHERE Wildlife can be spotted anywhere: in the campgrounds, in the visitor center parking lot, on the paved and especially on the dirt park road, and even in the construction zones. At the Teklanika and other rest stops with vault toilets, there are signs to make sure you close the doors behind you for the safety of humans and animals. Apparently the porcupines are known to wander in and nibble the toilet paper and lumber! BUY GROCERIES BEFORE YOU ENTER THE PARK A loaf of bread is $8.00, candy bars $3 Denali - the Great One - translated from one of 5 Athabascan languages surrounding the park is celebrating the name change of the national park which for 100 years was known as Mt. McKinley. Named after a President who never visited the park, nor set foot in Alaska - a president who was President-elect in 1897, the mountain is North America's highest peak at 20,308'. In 1897 William Dickey, a gold prospector and an admirer of McKinley's used the name Mt. McKinley in a NY Sun article, and the name became popularized after McKinley's assassination in 1901. In an effort to get legislation passed to establish the park and protect the wildlife before the wilderness could be spoiled, proponents of the park (Charles Sheldon and famed climber Belmore Brown) accepted the name in spite of their objections that it be named Denali, taking the native Athabascan name. For thousands of years, the native tribes living around the mountain called it Denali which translates in the various dialects as 'the Great One,' 'the High one,' 'the tall one,' or 'mountain big.' Last year President Obama restored the name: Denali National Park and Preserve instead of Mt. McKinley National Park. The mountain which makes its own weather and is mostly shrouded in clouds, is hard to see when traveling through the expansive park, especially in Spring and Summer. We are part of the 30% club though, since we have seen the peak with clear blue skies. AND not only that, but of the 10 days we've been here, we've seen it 4 days! As for the elusive wolf....we've not been so lucky. One of the park's earliest and most well known heroes was Adolph Murie. Murie lived in the park with his family in a cabin over 40 miles into the wilderness. He was the first to study the wolf behavior here and convince others that this apex predator was critical to the survival of many species. His dedication to the wildlife and to promoting the idea that science should be an important part of managing parks and wild places is an incredible legacy that touches millions of lives, both human and animal alike, to this day. Because of his work and the efforts of the park's first proponents (Sheldon and Brown), the 6 million acre wilderness known as Denali is home to many wild species, varied terrain and ecosystems, with less human development and interaction that any of our other National parks. Murie was adamant and instrumental in convincing park managers to prevent the paving of a 96 mile road into the wilderness. This has led management to adopt a system that brings visitors into the park by shuttle buses instead of allowing thousands of personal vehicles on the road system. What it means today is that the wildlife is used to the buses that come through and they continue to behave naturally because the drivers tell visitors to remain quiet, keep their arms, food, and items inside the windows and not disturb the wildlife. You may get off the buses and hike, but for the most part, there is no trail system (with the exception of some at the park entrance and near a campground). What we often do is see a beautiful place or a place where animals have been using, and we get off and hike on the tundra or bushwhack through an area. There are areas closed to hiking for years at a time to give wolves a chance to den and raise their families, and there is a 5 mile stretch near Sable Pass that is closed to hiking where the wildlife are thriving. In this area you may walk the road alongside the closure but not hike in. Yesterday while hiking on the east side of the closure in search of wolves (which we did not see), a park employee drove by telling us a wolverine was spotted near the pass. We unfortunately did not get a glimpse. The day before, a wolf had been spotted swimming in the pond near the pass so we watched there for a while, only to see a duck. We had picked the area east of the closure (Igloo Creek) to hike because the day before we heard (and saw photos) of wolves in the area both walking the road AND running up the creek. Quite a few bus loads of folks had seen the young black wolf with yellow eyes running the road for over half a mile. Others had seen a gray and white wolf in the area. This time of year, the wolves are denning and seeing them is made easier when you know where the dens are, increasing your chances of seeing them coming and going. However, let me just say that the dens are only known to us as being in a general area - like mile marker 7 - not whether it's east or west or how far off the road. But most nights you can find me driving to mile marker 7 in hopes of getting a glimpse. (Personal vehicles are allowed on the first 12 miles of the only paved part of Park Rd.). The problem is that the park is doing road construction around Mille 7, and between 8pm-8am road closures can last between 5-90 minutes, so after a long day of wildlife watching, it can get late while you sit waiting to pass through. As my next job though, I want to work as a road crew flagger in Denali. Whenever I drive down at night I stop and talk to the crew. They've had bull moose, Lynx, wolves and all sorts of animals come near them. The wolves sniff their packs on the roadside, and one worker who was sitting down doing paperwork in the wee hours had a wolf sneak up behind him; the wolf was just curious. One worker saw 2 wolves near the beaver pond and watched as the beaver swam right towards them. Because it's light here now for about 20 hours a day, the best time to see wolves is between 2-6am. While I am dedicated to watching wildlife, I haven't gotten up and driven half an hour to the road construction in search of my wolf spotting. Adolph Murie, who once followed and watched wolves for 32 hours has put me to shame. The bus system is great because you often have 50 pairs of eyes spotting. And we've seen wonderful sights from the bus - mother grizzly with cubs foraging, a Mew Gull dive bombing a Golden Eagle, caribou sitting on a small patch of snow to keep cool and keep the bugs from buzzing, moose munching on willows, and many other sights. But if you come to Denali, know that you can get off the bus and walk or hike around. When you're ready to return, just flag down another bus. You can sit alongside a stream and listen to the magpies squawk or the Ptarmigan babies call their parents, you can pick a perch on a hillside near the road and watch a mother grizzly and her Spring cubs playing from a safe distance. One day we watched that scene for over an hour. Another day we watched a beautiful brown grizzly (some are blonde) pulling up sweet pea roots and other vegetation near the river bed while we were on a hill high above him. Buses stopped and took pictures for a few minutes and then moved on, but we ate our lunch and followed and watched him for more than an hour. As we were leaving he got into the river to cool off. Denali has a lot to offer, much too much for being seen merely through a bus window. We've had 10 days here, and I was distraught when we arrived and learned about the bear they were hunting to kill - the bear that interacted with humans. These humans did not follow proper bear country hiking protocol, and the bear may have to pay with his life. But I'm happy to say that they haven't found the bear! In spite of putting salmon and other good smelling foods into large bear traps, baiting him in 3 different areas, he's moved on, and hopefully will stay away from humans and live a long healthy life. Another disturbance in the park, the 2 moose calves orphaned after someone shot their mother (illegally) has been resolved. The calves have been captured and relocated to the AK Conservation Center where they will be protected and live out their lives. I'm so happy the park allowed that, but only after they said tourists were causing traffic jams and problems stopping to take their photos (the calves were near the park entrance on the paved road). We have another few days here and plan to enjoy more animal watching so there's still time to see a wolf. According to the biologists count, there are 49 wolves here. Of course I know they can't possibly count all of the wolves on 6 million acres, so I'm sure there are more. Statistically my odds of seeing one are probably very high, but even if we don't see a wolf, we have seen this wildlife while in Denali:
7 Snowshoe Hares, 8 Mew Gulls,7 Golden Eagles, 52 squirrels (Arctic ground squirrels and red squirrels), 38 Ptarmigan, 13 Caribou, 1 Spruce Grouse, 16 Grizzly bears, 40 Dall sheep, 10 Magpies, 5 Moose, 3 Ducks, 1 Porcupine, 8 Raven, 1 Red fox, 5 Beaver. Perhaps on my next writing, I can add wolf to that list! We've arrived in Denali Park during a tense time. It's critical for a young bear who's made some mistakes around hikers and campers. Between 6/22 and 7/1 the bear interacted with three hiking parties, one who did the right things in bear country, and 2 who did not. One hiker threw their back pack at him and so the bear was rewarded with chocolate bars and soda. Another played dead instead of standing ground first and then playing dead if attacked, and the bear came to investigate and scratched her. In addition, the bear entered the small Savage River Campground (where we are camped - but before we arrived, and this is 1 of 7 campgrounds) and tore two tents while the campers were away. As a result, the Park Superintendent has signed his death warrant, and the poor creature, whose main mistake was acting like a wild animal, is being hunted. The park has closed this campground to tents - only hard sided trailers/RV's allowed, no pop up campers or vehicles. The trails near the campground are closed. The road is closed just before the campground entrance where once personal vehicles could drive another 2.2 miles into the park. Different from most parks, in Denali only buses may drive beyond the 15 mile mark (and a few RVs of shorter length may drive to another campground) taking visitors into the park on a gravel road as far as mile 92. Rangers are stationed at the road closure and campsite rules are enforced - nothing outside your RV on your picnic table unless you are outside with it - no water bottles, food, dog water dishes, anything that could smell interesting and lure a bear to come investigate. We have to have written proof we are camping here to drive our vehicle pass the ranger, and we can't wait at the bus stop (about 50 yards from the road closure) but must wait beside the ranger's road block. All prudent measures, and I'm not complaining at all about those. But I am angry, sad, incensed and anxious for this young bear. I do not believe the park is willing to consider alternative non-lethal measures to help this bear. To me it is just another blatant example of men/women wielding guns to take control of something without embracing alternative solutions. Apparently rangers tried one day to recondition the bear - throwing bean bags at it when it came close - 1 day only. On our 2nd day in the park, we were reading at the campsite and for over an hour, a small engine plane flew over the campground in 16 circles about a mile away in my sight line. Then it moved further west and flew another 20 circles. I tired of counting as it moved a bit further west. It was an agonizing hour as I thought they must have a target in sight. Thankfully I learned later that they were tracking a bear and when "troops" on the ground approached, it was a different bear - a large beautiful grizzly, harassed for nothing. At least they didn't pull the trigger. They've now had these measures in place and been watching for the bear for over a week. Everyone I've talked to, visitors and park staff alike are expressing sentiments like "we hope he's very far away." Denali is huge - about the size of Massachusetts and has approximate 350 grizzlies. Surely there's room for this one somewhere in the wild. They claim that if he were captured and then relocated, he would come back to this area near the hiking trails and campground and be a problem bear. I find it interesting that with the intense search going on and the lapse of a week, he has not returned. They claim he is young and looking for a territory and if deposited in another bear's territory, then he might be killed. Well if that were to happen, at least it would be a natural death. And perhaps he finds a territory in the interior of the vast park and lives a long life. I'm writing on my comment card to the superintendent that I disagree with the decision to kill this bear. I'm trying to contact the Humane Society to see if they will investigate. As Terry and I have traveled in bear country many times, we've always said that if either of us were attacked by a bear, our wish is that the bear would not be killed. It's a complicated issue. I understand the park's desire to keep people safe, and they are right to close the trails here and close camping for tents; maybe they should close this campground altogether. There are other places to camp, and this one only has 34 sites. A few weeks ago another bear mauled a park employee. Out for a hike by himself, a young bus driver surprised a mother grizzly and 2 cubs. He acted appropriately - stopped, put his hands up making himself look big and stood his ground. She bluff charged and veered off a few feet short. Next she circled and then charged again towards his legs. He can't remember if he went down to play dead or if she knocked him down first, but with his pack on and covering his neck (all proper responses), he laid on the ground. She bit him in the leg, then she took her cubs and left. After awhile, he got up and walked out of the woods and sought help. He is OK and yesterday was getting the stitches out with plans to continue hiking. The park is not hunting that bear, because she was acting naturally in defense of her cubs. This is why visitors are encouraged to make noise when hiking, particularly in areas of high brush, so you don't surprise the bear. (We went on a ranger led hike with eight others and actually got tired of someone yelling "Hey bear!" every other minute.). Yesterday we took the bus to about mile 45 and then hiked in a very open area crossing a stream heading for the hills. We saw no bears while hiking, but from the bus we saw two beautiful lone grizzlies eating in tall grass, from quite a distance. Bus visitors and drivers alike were thrilled. It's a wonderful thing to be in a place as wild as this and commune with nature. More feared than bears by most Alaskans is the moose. A mother with calves can be very aggressive, and weighing in between 700-1000 pounds, mismatched for a human. With bears, protocol says stand your ground and that statistically the majority of charges will be bluffs. With moose, you watch from a safe distance; if the moose pulls back her ears, stamps a hoof and snorts, you are too close and need to run in a zig-zag pattern. I don't know if a mother on 6/7 reacted that way, but near the park entrance someone shot a mother, leaving her 2 calves orphaned. The park wildlife biologist decided not to intervene. This outrages me, and I understand there are 2 centers who have agreed to take the calves. Yet here a month later, the calves remain not far from where they were last feeding near their mother. What is their fate? Why won't the park capture this pair and take them out of the wild to live out their lives? Is it more fitting that they be left to fend for themselves and likely become part of the food chain? In my mind, they should be rescued and taken to the Alaskan Conservation Center or another place. Someone brought their firearm into this hallowed place and shot their mother. For that the calves should perish, when we can step in?
I know managing the park comes with great responsibility for the safety of visitors, the preservation of this park and its features, and also for the protection of the wildlife. But with these decisions by park officials to have the bear killed and to let the moose calves suffer, I completely disagree. What are your thoughts? You can respond on weebly or my Facebook page or email me at [email protected] . You can also express your views with Park Superintendent Don Striker at 907-683-9532 PO Box 9, Denalli Park, AK 99755. Note: photos here are NOT the specific animals I've written about, just representatives for their species! When we aren't hiking, biking or driving we watch DVDs and read. We've both enjoyed a variety of books, both novels and non-fiction. Recently Virginia Woolf's THE VOYAGE OUT was a bit of a struggle to get through, but another book lately I've enjoyed immensely came from a friend. My dear friend, fellow filmmaker and naturalist Vicki Hughes sent me a wonderful book that is having a huge impact on my way of examining our natural world. The book is BRAIDING SWEETGRASS written by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The author is a botanist, mother, professor at SUNY and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her writing is magical, eloquent and philosophical. She weaves Native American cultural beliefs alongside her academic pursuit of plant behavior and relationships. Her writing is profound and full of wonder and interesting insights examining an emerging relationship between indigenous beliefs and Western science. She beautifully explains the difference between her ancestral giving economy vs. our current commodity economy. The Earth is a gift, and as she writes "A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward; you cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it. And yet it appears. Your only role is to be open-eyed and present. Gifts exist in a realm of humility and mystery - as with random acts of kindness, we do not know their source." In a gift economy, one's freely given gifts cannot be made into someone else's capital. Apparently the fundamental nature of gifts is that they move, and their value increases with their passage. Her example is that the meadow near her house used to give wild strawberries in Summer which she then collected and brought home for her mother to make strawberry shortcake - a gift to her dad on father's day. Kimmerer writes "the more something is shared, the greater its value becomes." At the root of a gift economy is reciprocity. In Western thinking, private land is understood to be a 'bundle of rights'; whereas, in a gift economy, property has a 'bundle of responsibilities.'" The Potowatomi spread a bit of tobacco on the land and say a prayer of respect and request before taking cattails to make a wigwam, or Sweetgrass for baskets, berries, pecans and other gifts from Mother Earth. And they practice an "honorable harvest" - unwritten rules that govern the taking and rein in our tendency to consume - that the world might be as rich for the seventh generation as it is for our own. Here are some of those tenets: Take only what you need and never more than half. Ask permission to harvest - inquire politely if they will share. Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them. Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. Never take the first. Never take the last. Harvest in a way that minimizes harm. Use it respectfully, never waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken. Kimmerer writes about how this way of harvesting can help us learn from the world how to be human. "If we are fully awake, a moral question arises as we extinguish the other lives around us on behalf of our own. Whether we are digging wild leeks or going to the mall, how do we consume in a way that does justice to the lives that we take?" With the making of baskets woven from Sweetgrass, she and fellow botanists have proven that where there exists a relationship between the indigenous who weave the baskets and the fields of Sweetgrass, the plant flourishes. They have scientifically proven that a healthy harvest (but an honorable one that takes never more than is necessary) - one that gives to the weavers what they need - reciprocates and provides more Sweetgrass in the future than in areas where no one harvests and tends this resource. "Plants are seemingly equipped with their own senses about where they will live, defying the predictions of science, for there is yet another dimension to Sweetgrass' requirements. The most vigorous stands are the ones tended by basket makers. Reciprocity is a key to success. When the Sweetgrass is cared for and treated with respect, it will flourish, but if the relationship fails, so does the plant." She writes about how the planet can be healed and sometimes damage undone if we work with nature and listen to what the plants have told us for years. She tells of Franz Dolp's work to plant an old growth forest in Oregon and how his work led to the formation of the Spring Creek Project which has brought together "the practical wisdom of the environmental sciences, the clarity of philosophical analysis, and the creative, expressive power of the written word, to find new ways to understand and reimagine or relation to the natural world." After ten years and 13,000 planted trees, artists, writers, and scientists gather on his land under his old growth 'children' to collaborate. She writes about how we have destroyed the natural world in pursuit of money and power and how we might reclaim natural resources with love and care while listening to nature. She made me cry when she wrote about her ancestors and how Native Americans were forced to assimilate; children were sent off to the Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA and forced to forget their heritage, language and customs. I cried when she wrote about the broken treaties, displacement of so many, and when she wrote how our commodity economy has destroyed the land in search for oil, coal, chemicals and the like. "I remember walking a street in Manhattan, where the warm light of a lavish home spilled out over the sidewalk on a man picking through the garbage for his dinner. Maybe we've all been banished to lonely corners of our obsession with private property. We've accepted banishment even from ourselves when we spend our beautiful, utterly singular lives on making more money, to buy more things that feed but never satisfy. It is the Windigo way that tricks us into believing that belongings will fill our hunger, when it is belonging that we crave."
Throughout the book my emotions ranged from sadness to joy as Kimmerer writes with eloquence about nature's resilience and the bond of those who reciprocate with nature. The significance of Sweetgrass is that it "is a teacher of healing, s symbol of kindness and compassion. [a plant that] reminded me that it is not the land that has been broken, but our relationship to it." She goes on to write that "we're not in control. What we ARE in control of is our relationship to the earth. Nature herself is a moving target, especially in an era of rapid change. Species composition may change, but relationship endures. It is the most authentic facet of the restoration. Here is where our most challenging and most rewarding work lies, in restoring a relationship of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity. And love." Ecologists estimate to sustain life as we know it, we will need 7 planets. She says policy changes that create an alternative to destructive economic structures are not enough. We need changes of heart. "Scarcity and plenty are as much qualities of the mind and spirit as they are of the economy. Gratitude plants the seed for abundance." So what we can do to help with healing? One thing Kimmerer explains is that many indigenous people believe we are each endowed with gifts, and that along with these gifts comes responsibility. "If the bird's gift is song, then it has a responsibility to greet the day with music. It is the duty of birds to sing and the rest of us receive the song as a gift." Kimmerer's gift of plant biology, sound ecological practices and her writings are gifts to the natural world. A gift I share now is spreading the word about her book, and I thank Vicki for sharing it with me. One paragraph that captured my imagination I leave you with, without comment: If there is meaning in the past and in the imagined future, it is captured in the moment. When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but on being where you are. So I stretch out, close my eyes, and listen to the rain." 6/26-6/30 We spent most of this week enjoying the Kenai Pennisula, points north of Homer. We celebrated Terry's birthday with dinner in Homer a few days earlier and then on Monday enjoyed a nice hike on the 7 Lakes Trail in the Skilac Wilderness Area. We didn't see anyone else hiking the trail but had lunch at the end where there's a campground of 4 sites (Kelly Lake). There are several cabins along the trail you can reserve and hike into - cabins that come with the keys to a boat so you can go fishing or tooling around...very secluded and quiet lakes! (Managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service - $45/night non-electric). We also hiked the Kenai River trails and watched eagles fishing, gulls and ducks. This area is well known moose habitat in certain times of the year; although we saw none. We camped at Hidden Lake Campground which has some beautiful sites on the lake, some on the ridge and skyline views as well. From the Skilak Wilderness area, we headed north to Hope, AK - a small town famous for being one of the Alaska's Best Preserved Gold Rush - named after prospector Percy Hope. Gold was discovered in 1888, long before Dawson or Nome. We camped in the Porcupine Campground run by the forestry service (this is part of the Chugach National Forest) which is at the end of the road, about 18 miles off the Sterling Highway. We always get excited when we're traveling to the end of the road, and this place did not disappoint us. The campground has large sites that are private and there's a wonderful hiking trail that travels along a bluff above the Cook Inlet with views of the water from on high, forests of Fir and Spruce, places where fireweed gets enough sun to sprout, and on Wednesday, some very fresh bear scat! We made noise and had Rocket with us so didn't encounter the bear but were very excited to know he had been nearby recently. When we reached the trail end, we watched an eagle and gull in flight and enjoyed a breeze as we looked down on the inlet. Several hours earlier when we came up the 18 mile road before choosing our campsite we saw lots of vehicles at about the 15 mile mark, one with flashing lights. When we looked over the guardrail towards the inlet there was a beached humpback whale and some researchers taking samples. Sadly this wonderful behemoth had died in the water and washed up on the mud flats. Within 36 hours of stranding though, his carcass was gone. Apparently scientists had carved up parts and with the help of high tide moved his body out for fish and the water to disperse. Not quite how we want to go whale watching, and while it does happen here, it's not frequently. As we were preparing to leave the campground, a moose and her calf passed by the campsite! Next we moved on to Anchorage to get re-supplied before heading into Denali National Park for 2 weeks AND to get the passenger airbag replaced (recall) in our tow-behind Subaru. While errands aren't the favorite part of our trip, what we also were able to do is visit an old friend! This is one of the best parts of our trip - visiting folks along the way. Carolyn Robinson and I worked together at Discovery Channel over 2 decades ago. Always sporting a sunny disposition and a wonderful spirit, Carolyn and her son Theo welcomed us with open arms to Anchorage - thank you for lunch Carolyn!
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AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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