103IN FL0002D001. Caption: Bull Caribou running down the middle of the park road in Denali National Park, Alaska" 458NS AE0003D001

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1 Denali National Park (603 words) (Story by Nick Jans/AlaskaStock.com Article number 998ST ZU Story and photos are Copyright 2008 by Alaska Stock Images. Use only with permission. Compensation mandatory) The Mountain, Alaskans call it. Or Denali the High One. Rising from the heartland of Alaska s vast Interior, visible from hundreds of miles away, the bluewhite bulk of Mount McKinley (as it s officially known) dominates both the horizon and our collective imagination. By any name, this four-mile-high pyramid of rock and ice looms as a symbol of all that is Alaska. Fitting that The Mountain should be the centerpiece of the state s most visited and celebrated wild landscape, Denali National Park and Preserve. Two hundred forty miles north Anchorage and 120 south of Fairbanks, the park totals six million acres almost twice the size of Connecticut. This enormous area gathers in a double handful of varied terrain: birch and aspen-clad uplands; barren, saw-toothed ridges; bands of white and black spruce taiga; and deep within the park s highlands, the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley massif towering over the Alaska Range. Through the core of the park, open sweeps of sub-arctic tundra roll to mountain backdrops, a stage across which caribou, wolves, and grizzlies roam. A scenic 91-mile gravel road winds into the park s interior, offering visitors passage into this world where time seems to have scarcely begun. (Story by Nick Jans/AlaskaStock.com Article number 998ST ZU Story and photos are Copyright 2008 by Alaska Stock Images. Use only with permission. Compensation mandatory)

2 Given that build-up, the mode of travel seems a bit incongruous. Concessionaire-operated buses reminiscent of high school days, leaving every few minutes, are the only traffic allowed past the Savage River, 15 miles into the park. Led by the driver, who doubles as guide, wildlife spotting and viewing becomes a cooperative exercise. Adventurous visitors have the opportunity to get dropped off by a bus at a given point (excluding some restricted areas) and picked up the next bus traveling in either direction. Guests of the park hope to at least glimpse two things: The Mountain, of course, and animals preferably the aforementioned grizzlies, wolves, and caribou--in more or less that order. Heck, throw in a bull moose, a fox, or wolverine for good measure. And why not aim for the ultimate? But if you allow personal fulfillment to hinge on these twin grails, be prepared for disappointment. The Mountain s fickleness is legendary, especially in summer. Piling up currents of wet air riding in from the Gulf of Alaska, it cycles through violent storms systems that often obscure its bulk. Veteran mountaineers wait for days, even weeks for clear climbing weather (the same that allows you to see The Mountain) and are often thwarted. The wildlife is no more predictable. Keep in mind the old guide s adage: there s fewer animals out there than you think, and far more than you see. Eager travelers may be blessed enough to watch a female grizzly and cubs meander up the road, a pack of wolves feed on a moose kill, and a band of caribou graze close by, all in a matter of hours. Or they may hit a day where, inexplicably, nothing seems to be moving beyond an occasional marmot, some yellow-white specks that the driver identifies as Dall sheep, and some swaying alders where a moose s hind end disappeared. Nature, inside an iconic national park or not, answers to no one s bidding. Should you go, then? Of course you should. Not in spite of, but precisely because of that uncertainty. Isn t that the whole point of Alaska, after all? Newcomer or lifelong Alaskan, we all come here to rediscover our place, small beneath the sky. The High One does loom into sight, lit with alpenglow, miraculously reflected in Wonder Lake. Grizzlies and wolves and caribou do roam that limitless tundra of possibility, caught between far blue hills. Sit and watch and hope, and think about where you are. (Story by Nick Jans/AlaskaStock.com Article number 998ST ZU Story and photos are Copyright 2008 by Alaska Stock Images. Use only with permission. Compensation mandatory)

3 More images related to this story can be found at: and a complete selection of Alaska Stock photos can be found online by searching at (Story by Nick Jans/AlaskaStock.com Article number 998ST ZU Story and photos are Copyright 2008 by Alaska Stock Images. Use only with permission. Compensation mandatory)

4 Editorial - denali national park Images: NP AA0042D007 Mature couple canoes on Wonder Lake as middle age woman watches from dock with Mt. Mckinley in the background, Denali National Park, Alaska" 103IN FL0002D001 Bull Caribou running down the middle of the park road in Denali National Park, Alaska" 100IN EM0023D001 Adult Brown Bear standing on tundra in Denali National Park, Alaska during Summer" 458NS EW0003D001 North face of Denali at sunset as seen from the Wonder Lake campground in Denali National Park, Alaska" 458NS AE0003D001 Sunset on Mt.McKinley reflecting in Wonder Lake at Denali National Park in Alaska. 458SS AA0021D001 Aerial view of Great Gorge w/ruth Glacier below Mt.McKinley Alaska Range Denali National Park Alaska 020IN AA0040D001 Family of three day hikers a man and young couple at Grassy Pass Denali National Park Alaska summer 458NP BF0063D002 Woman tourist sitting on tundra viewing Mt McKinley from Stony Hill Ovrelook Denali National Park Interior Alaska summer 458NP FL0001D001 Tour buses & tourists at Stoney Overlook Denali National Park Alaska Summer

5 458NS AA0016D001 Mt.McKinley and the Alaska Range with fireweed flowers in the foreground as seen from inside Denali National Park Alaska summer 458NS AA0015D001 Mt.McKinley as seen from Eielson visitor center Denali National Park Alaska 458NP AA0040D001 Group of tourists view Mt.McKinley from tundra overlook near Wonder Lake Denali National Park Alaska 395IN AA0013D001 Visitors off ARAMARK tour Stony Hill view Alaska Range Denali National Park Alaska 261SI DE0006D001 Road sign in Denali National Park pointing to various destinations Interior Alaska Summer 261SI DE0005D001 Denali National Park entrance sign Interior Alaska Summer 399IN DE0002D001 Visitor photographs Alaska Range from Denali National Park road Interior Alaska Summer 458NS BF0025D001 Bull Moose grazing in early morning near Wonder Lake w/alpenglow on Mt McKinley Denali Nat Park Composite 458NS BA0037D001 Grizzly with Mt.McKinley in Background Composite

6 458NP BF0047D001 Person Canoeing on Wonder Lake Mt.McKinley Bkgrd AK IN Summer 458NS BF0023D001 Alaska Range over Wonder Lake in Morning Mist Denali National Park during Summer in Alaska 458NP AA Canoeist in Wonder Lake w/mt McKinley Denali NP IN AK Summer 458NP AA Tourists View Mt.McKinley DNP Summer Interior Alaska 458NP AA Tourists View Mt.McKinley DNP Summer Interior Alaska 103IN BF0009D001 COMPOSITE Silhouette image of a herd of caribou climbing a ridgeline with Mt.McKinley in the background Interior Alaska COMPOSITE 103IN FO Portrait of Caribou Bull on Tundra Denali NP IN AK Fall 103AR FJ Bull caribou standing in tundra Denali NP Alaska during fall color change Interior 100IN AP Grizzly Bear near Hwy Pass Denali Natl Park Interior AK summer portrait

7 100IN AP Grizzly Bear near Hwy Pass Denali Natl Park Interior Alaska summer portrait 100IN GG0001D001 Grizzly in snow in Denali National Park with a snow covered face after digging in snow. 100IN EM0011D001 Mother Grizzly Bear and cubs walk up a misty hillside at Denali National Park. Summer in Interior Alaska. 100IN FL0004D001 Two grizzly bear cubs play together at Thorofare Pass in Denali National Park in Interior Alaska. 458NS EW0010D001 The north face and peak of Mt. Mckinley is reflected in a small tundra pond in Denali National Park, Alaska" 458NP EW0011D001 Two women ride bikes over Thorofare Pass with Mt. McKinley in the background in Denali National Park, Alaska"