July 7, 2007,
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Dear One and All,
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Today was Lila’s Seventh Anniversary working with me. It is, 7/7/07. Ken helped me plan a special day months ago and it was certainly that. At 7:00 am we were headed into the park on the Denali Wilderness Tour bus. Larry our tour guide/bus driver was a riot and by the time we were to the gateway to the back of the park everyone was in high spirits. Ken and Lila and I took the very front seats, no one wanted them but us because they were over the wheel wells but we didn’t care how much we had to bend our knees these were the prime seats for seeing wildlife along the road and see wildlife we did. Ken was positioned behind the driver and Lila and I shared the seat on the other side. Our cameras were ready and waiting when a grizzly was spotted on the hump of a ridge around a hundred yards away and we all got good shots, especially when Larry opened the door for Ken. The Caribou herd came next. They started on Ken’s side and moved across the road and over to the other side. Unfortunately, there was a bus in front of us, so the side shots were all we could get. But, again Ken was shooting out the door as I kept the video running and Lila snapped away. The weather began to turn ugly. It started raining hard and on these roads that is not a good thing. Just like the coastal range I grew up with, these are sand sided mountains and collapse when wet. We saw evidence of this all along the way. Needless to say, as we passed along ridges hundreds of feet up, and our road only a few feet wide, (barely enough for a single bus), in heavy rain and fog, I found myself remembering the Rio Grande Gorge with a serene fondness. At least we were on foot and it was dry!
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Further and further back we went with Larry wheeling around hairpin curves, happily talking away and telling us we had to be looking for the wildlife because it was too dangerous for him to take his eyes from the road. Then he would gayly point to one side or the other as he spotted animals. It soon felt like Mr. Toad’s wild ride. I kept expecting him to turn green, grow goggle eyes, and have a waistcoat!
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Finally, we were over the ridges and I was back looking for animals and sure enough along the road was an enormous Bull Moose in full velvet regalia. I knew we would see something like this as the weather was perfect for a guy like him. He tromped through the brush munching down on the willow growing in abundance all around him. He was so close! It was wonderful. Needless to say, Ken was using great self control to keep from leaning out the open door of the bus as his camera sang. Lila patiently let me get all the footage I needed and then she was at the window shooting away.
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Soon we had to move on and we arrived at the Denali Wilderness Resort for a late lunch and time to go and visit Fannie Quigley’s Cabin. Fannie is a very famous woman here in Alaska. Her solitary life (after her divorce in her sixties) spent in the shadow of Mount McKinley has become stuff of legend. Needless to say, the short hike to her spot and the subsequent time spent in the space where she spent the final four years of her life, (after reading the books about her) was incredible. What a gal! She swore like a sailor, cooked like a chef, cared for her animals like an angel, and could out hunt, haul, and outlast every man who ever challenged her.
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On the way back it was more teasing for Susan as I was frozen in fear, seated by the window on the cliff side instead of letting Lila take my place. But, I did manage to have a look at the Pika on a rock on a ledge some twenty feed straight below as Ken tried to get a shot through the closed door of the bus. The bus that was about a foot off the edge of the wet sand bluff a thousand feet up! Yikes!!
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We saw another Bull Moose on the way back and watched as he grazed his way toward the road, but, unfortunately the folks in the bus couldn’t contain themselves and be quiet so he turned and ran away.
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Finally, we were out of the park and it was time for our 7:00 pm occasion at the Wilderness Lodge in Denali Village, Glitter Gulch, with a lovely fire burning in the fireplace and good hot tea to go with our food. It had been a cold, wet, long, and truly wonderful day. Happy Anniversary Lila!
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Now it’s late and not the slightest bit cloudy, so I’m going to close the curtains and go to sleep.
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Good Night and God Bless,
Love Susan