Denali National Park Trip 2

     We got back for round two.  The plan was to hike Primrose ridge and get a view of "The Mountain", Denali, from there.  We made the ridge, but soon after a storm was on top of us and we made a hasty retreat back down to the river.  Again, lots of clouds meant no Denali viewing.  On the way up we saw Dall rams and after the storm two Caribou bulls graced us with their presence.  What a spectacular place!  I don't know if it will be this summer, but we will be back to do some more exploring and catch a glimpse of the mountain.
     I took video of the Dall sheep through my spotting scope.  The broomed ram is in the video twice, facing left first and then right.  From my little Dall sheep knowledge, he seemed to be the biggest ram in the group.  Enjoy the video and pictures.  -janis

Hiking up to Primrose Ridge.  In Denali National Park there are not a lot of marked trails and they actually encourage off trail hiking to get the wilderness experience.

A young ram getting up from his bed with a view.

This young ram was bedded a couple hundred yards from us and fed to within 80 yards.  I think  the sheep in  the park know that the pressure is off!

Our sheep viewing/picnic area for the afternoon.

"Could you please drop the tripod legs just a little lower?"

Jennifer took lots of breaks to check out the flowers of the Alaskan alpine environment.

Even being white sheep, they can be difficult to spot when bedded on the light colored rocks.

A closer view of the sheep's bedding area.

The storm that ushered us off the ridge.

The biggest ram we saw that day.

Caribou bulls.

We finished the day teaching Aina how to throw rocks in the river.  She still prefers to hang on to them.