Denali National Park

I'd been writing and planning my cycling adventure over the past few days....
Wondering if I'd bitten off more than I really wanted to chew.  Then John said, 'Hell Mark I have four days off, lets go camping, cycling and trekking in Denali National Park & Preserve.'  Great idea I thought.
I helped with packing the car as much as John's OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) would allow.  He has his ways, habitual, well planned and honed over many centuries of mini expeditions.  He's good!  He likes to check, double check and triple check.  It's a wise process few of us bother with.  But when you're heading in to the wilderness, and I'm not talking heading up Snaefell or up around Injubrek (for the Isle of Man folks), I'm talking no access to drinking water or food for 3 days.... There is quite and inventory required for such trips and John's garage has the lot.... and more!

With Monday afternoon and evening lost to packing we rolled in to Tuesday with a big early breakfast and a myriad of 'Did you pack the....', 'Did you remember the....'.  I assured John everything laid out on the garage floor by his own fair hands had indeed been packed.  He reminded me that he liked to make physical contact with every item for the final checks.  I understood this, but also wanted to help as much as I could.  The pangs of forgetful anxiety eventually diminished as the road miles increased from Fairbanks.

Mount Mckinlay in Denali Park
From Denali Park Website.

Two hours later I was sat in front of the park ranger's mini DVD player watching the compulsory 'Safety in the Park' documentary.... It informed how to camp with bears in vicinity.  What to do if you encounter a Grizzly or Black Bear at close quarters etc etc.  It stated that there had been no bear related fatalities in the park since it was classed as protected park land almost 100 years ago.
Afterwards the park ranger coyly told us that all the information wasn't completely up to date.  A tourist was mauled to death by a Grizzly during 2012.  I was so excited at the possibility of encountering such a huge mammal in the wild.

We drove 26 miles in to the preserve unloaded our kit, loaded up the panniers, clipped everything on to our bikes and proceeded to cycle the 20 miles to Polychrome, John's wilderness camping spot.  On the cycle in John told me I could ride on ahead.  I did.  When I stopped and John caught up he told me about a bear and cub he'd watched at distance for a few minutes.... Damn.... Missed out.

On the way in to the park

On arrival we set up our tent then set up our cooking spot over 100 metres away from the camp.  If a bear comes to investigate the fine camp food aromas he won't rip the tent apart searching for tasty morsels... those tasty morsels could also include me or John.  There's a little more meat on John.  It's also well aged.... though that may mean it's tougher!  Ha ha!  Sorry John.

Our Camp...

After John prepared delightful food, I took the bear container (a small black hard plastic barrel with screw lock top) 100 metres from the camp and our
cooking position, stashing it among the alder brush.  You form a triangle between camp, cooking and food cache.  The bears least favourite triangle is the equilateral triangle (I reckon) and it's favourite is the isosceles because it sounds a bit like 'I sausages'.  The previous statement is not fact, though it could be coincidentally correct as bears evolve.

After eating we took a 20 minute trek up a steep hill to the left our camp to watch the sunset and the moon rise.  It was 11pm when we reached the top, and it was still light.
That night was cold.  I wore my clothes in my sleeping bag.  The next morning my water bottle was frozen!

After a hearty breakfast of hot oats we loaded day panniers on to our bikes, along with snacks, water and a hand pump water filter and headed to Eilsen a little over 20 miles away.  Due to the road conditions, constant climbs and drops we were in the saddles for over 8 hours.  We spotted caribou and ground squirrels as we cycled amidst the grand vista of mountains.  Mount McKinlay North America's highest mountain constantly closed in.  With a peak reaching an altitude of almost 6,200 metres it would tower over the Isle of Man's highest peak by 5,600 metres (18,000 feet), ten times the height in fact.... It truly is a goliath chunk of rock!

Hairy Man, Mount Mckinlay...

Both John and I were suffering painful necks and shoulders from scanning the surrounding landscape as we cycled.  John desperately wanted me to see a bear, and I desperately wanted to see a bear.....

Ptarmigan were plentiful.... very beautiful.... and noisy!
Morphing from winter plumage to summer....

Then as we had a final run down to Eilsen the sun reflected of a golden coloured object on the slope to my left.  I looked ahead and John had stopped.... 'What's that?  Is it a bear?'
It was a big grizzly.  Absolutely beautiful.  I straddled my bicycle watching through a small pair of binoculars.  I heard a shrill whistle and took the glasses from my eyes.... John pointed.  A huge golden eagle soared at just above eye level no more than 12 metres from my face.  Wow!  A grizzly and a golden eagle simultaneously within my field of vision.  We were somewhere very special.

Big Grizzly!  Not my nickname!

The Grizzly slips and slides from the snow....

We cycled further down the track and sat on the other side of the valley with the recommended 300 yards between us and the bear.  It scratched at the land, dug at ground squirrel holes and basically mooched about.  I sat enthralled for almost 20 minutes before we started our return journey.

I cycled on ahead of John on the way back to camp, hoping to get the stove and food all ready to prepare before John's arrival.  I knew pumping water through the filter would take a good half hour from the river at the half way point.  When I reached the river, I nipped in to one of the wooden cabin toilets.  Then went down to fill the 4 litre bag.  I thought John must have gone straight past and not seen my bike.
The ride back to camp felt tough.  I was worn out.  The sun had been blazing all day long.
As I came around one of the final corners I spotted a couple of wild Dall Sheep on the ridge.  Beautiful big, white goat like animals.  I would have loved to see them at close quarters.
I was in luck.  The next corner I came around three big male dall sheep stood at the edge of the track.  I slowly pushed my way closer and closer, until I was no more than 12 feet away....
My favourite image will be on my Facebook Photography Page (Mark Boyd Photography).  It was a wonderful few minutes.

Dall Sheep.... Put our Loughton's to shame!!!  Though our Loughton's are beautiful too!

When I reached camp John was nowhere to be seen.  I was slightly worried, but knew he was more than capable.  He was an outdoors Alaska man!  I got to setting up for our evening meal.
John eventually rolled in a little after 10pm.  I'd been back a little over an hour.  He'd suffered three punctures, and on one had a great close up encounter with a grizzly. As John had been repairing his puncture a big ole bear roamed out of the brush on to the track.  John's bear mace (spray) was on his bicycle bag a few feet away.  He yelled gently at the bear and slowly walked to retrieve the mace.  The bear wandered back off the road in to the brush after strolling down the road.  John at one point was no more than 100 feet away, about 200 metres or 550 feet too close! Exciting!  John said he'd wished I'd been there to experience it.  So did I.  He also told me about a red fox that ran down the road behind my bicycle.  He was whistling and hollering, but with the wind rushing by and the gravel under the tyres I heard nothing.
We hit the hay a little after midnight.

Our kitchen at 10pm

Mosquitoes are a problem....
I assure you my smile is just for the camera.

Next morning we rose around 8.30am.  We mooched around, had a slow breakfast and a slow pack down.  Then loaded up our bikes for the ride out of the park.  Then John let out a flurry of swearing.  I looked at his back tyre.  It was flat again.  We sat down and got to repairing the double slit pinch puncture.  We set off at 12pm.  Once again we constantly scanned the landscape for big mammals.

Ground Squirrel  -  A great recipe in some parts of the US,  a small mammal in Alaska.

An hour in John shouted 'Flat tyre!'  I turned around, we sat down and studied the tyre.  We could see nothing.  I walked back down the track with a cooking pot to retrieve water.  Submerging the tube would show us where the puncture was through a little stream of bubbles.... Still nothing.  Eventually I found another tiny double slit pinch puncture.  We'd been messing about for the best part of 90 minutes before we got back on the road.
Whilst at the side of the track one of John's teacher buddies with a group of 6 kids came cycling down the freshly grated track (hence the sharp stones).  Ron stopped to chat, the first of the kids lost control on the loose rock and crashed.  The remaining 5 kids ended up on the ground within seconds.  Skids, brakes and dust.  'Everyone okay?' said Ron.  There were no tears so Ron continued his conversation with John.  Funny!!!
I'd lost sight of John who had free wheeled ahead whilst I held on to the brakes scanning between the trees as we were coming in to the last couple of miles of our ride, when I encountered a big, dark, beautiful moose.  The air was silent.  I approached slowly.  He just stood looking at me.  One more step and I'd entered his circle and he lifted his long legs and disappeared in to the trees.  Wonderful.
Half a mile from the car on the other side of the river we were treated to another big grizzly bear sighting.  Just amazing.

Denali Park is truly wild, rugged and beautiful.
Spending time with John in there with his tales of trips gone by was truly magnificent.  When I say John has OCD when it comes to trip preparation, OCD could also be an abbreviation for the kind of guy he is, 'One Cool Dude'.  He is so passionate about the outdoors and has a wealth of knowledge to go along with it.  I couldn't have been in better hands.

Can you see me?  This gives an idea of the scale of the place.....

On the drive home I told John I'd like to treat us both to a burger and beer.
$46.00 later for the burger and beer the treat was complete.  A lot more than I expected, but John is worth every cent.  If you ever read this John, thank you so much for everything.

On the way home we spotted a porcupine which I chased in to the brush in an attempt at capturing a couple of shots for you guys!  They are cute little guys!

Peeking around the tree at me...

Out of focus.... But I still liked it enough to share with you guys....

Defensive stance.... I left the cute little fella alone.... I didn't want him feeling threatened.