Denali Road Lottery: the great bear encounter

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Did not get eaten by a bear today, though I was closer to one than I ever thought I would be. This beautiful large scary creature was on the hill right next to where we drove and I opened my window and he /she was RIGHT THERE. Not close enough to touch, but definately closer than 25 yards and enough to scare me so that I grabbed just a few pics and then rolled up my window and asked the driver to move the vehicle. Sony a6000 with Tamron 150-600mm (rental) a-mount to e-mount

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Bear getting closer to the truck.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to ride along with my friend Susan and her husband Steve while they drove the Denali Park Road during the lottery. We drove in as far as Eielson and saw loads of animals and amazing scenery. As Susan says “Any day in the park is a good day!”

I’ll admit I’m spoiled in my perception of the park experience since I started going to the park during shoulder season where folks can drive in as far as mile 30 where the Teklanika Overlook is at and I have only rode the bus after I’d done four trips during shoulder seasons and found how limiting being in the bus can be. I understand why the park limits road access to buses and agree with the policy to help keep the animals wild, the land pristine and the people safe. But it sure does limit how long and what you are allowed to look at.

Shoulder season and being in your own vehicle is AWESOME. The lottery, if you are selected as a winner, extends how far a personal car drive in and it was such a privilege to be able to stop and take photos of what we wanted and for as long as we wanted.

If I recall we saw: 2 Fox. 2 Bears . Many Moose. 1 Owl, a few eagles, I think, sheep that were far away essentially “white dots on a hill” plus ptarmigan, squirrels, grey jays and magpies. And the mountain was out in all her glory!! All in all I’m calling today a success.

Awesome time doing the Denali Park Road lottery for my first time. Thanks to my friend Susan and Steve for inviting me to tag along.

I’m really behind on posting photos, so this post only has pics from the “great bear adventure”

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