June 26, 2011

Daily Report from the Journalism Committee

Denali National Park by Maddie

Denali National Park, six million acres of pure Alaska, filled with magnificent wildlife that you can observe in it's natural habitat (but it's way better than the zoo). The tired, yet excited, AGLP group took an all day bus trip through the heart of Denali National Park, starting with getting into groups for the 6:30am, 7:30am, and 8:30am buses. The bus ride was about an 8 hour round trip, with about a 40 minute stop at the Eielson Visitor Center. Throughout the bus ride, we saw tons of animals including moose with calves, grizzly bears with cubs, golden eagles (even one fighting a raven), wolves, caribou, herds of dall sheep, and even some hikers now and then. The group was looking forward to seeing a lynx, but unfortunately they are very rare and none were out at that time. Whenever we were close to an animal we had to be quiet so that the animal would not get used to hearing human voices. The bus drivers also explained what to do if you are spotted by a nearby animal, such as a moose or a grizzly bear. Another spectacular sight that a couple of the buses saw was the southern peak of Mount McKinley, also known as Denali (meaning The Great One in Athabaskan). Mt. McKinley is only visible around thirty percent of the time, so it was really a neat and breath-taking sight to witness. All around the trip was really interesting because you were able to see animals as natural as possible and you had the opportunity to see the tallest point in North America! I hope that if you ever have the chance to go to Denali, you take the bus tour because it really is spectacular.