AUWPS 3 - Eielson Area and Denali Sunset

TUNDRA PICNIC with the NatHab travelers. Photo by Eric Rock. [And hey! No jokes about the length of the bus: none of North Face Lodge's busses are as long as a standard school bus.]

The overnight weather cleared the air and we awoke to our first sights of Denali from the lodge. Clouds overtook it during breakfast, but this was typical (we were told), and there was reason to hope The Great One would reappear in the evening.

Today's foray took us to points further east along the park road, to the Eielson Visitor Center and beyond. We came across caribou and ground squirrels in addition to arctic flowers and birds. We lunched just off the Park Road: Tundra Picnic.

When we returned, we were set to go two miles up the road to get reflection shots of the still-visible Mt. McKinley. I was so buzzed from the flight seeing (see next post) that when I loaded up for the road trip, I remembered all my photo gear—including tripod—except my camera. Our kind NatHab guide, Eric, let me shoot his Olympus OM-D. What a guy!

Upon our return to the lodge, I was possessed to trudge across the spongy tundra ("spunjra") and commune with the mosquitos so as to acquire a Moon Over Denali shot. Sometimes you put in a great deal of effort to be rewarded with a stunning keeper. This was not one of those times.

Eielson Area and Denali Sunset