The Amazing Journey...

Came back from Kantishna last night... the drive in was beautiful but somewhat uneventful as far as seeing wildlife. The trip out however was PACKED with so many things to watch for. By the end of our journey we were passing by caribou, moose and even grizzlies with the feeling of 'been there, seen that'.

All in all we saw 8 grizzlies (2 mothers with 2 cubs each and 2 young bears on their own), 2 fox, 1 porcupine and countless birds, ptarmigan, snowshoe hair, ground squirrels, mouse, caribou and sheep way up on the hill sides.

Ive been in Denali once before on the bus trip but never have seen so much wildlife in one day and have never been that far back in the park. From the time we pulled off the highway it was just under a 100 miles to get to Kantishna down narrow winding roads that offered no sight distance around tight turns that were way, way up the hillside. Most of our trip was down a one lane dirt road that was beautifully maintained, very dry and easy to travel.

The staff at the Kantishna Road House were so nice and very accomidating. We were set up in our own room and fed a hearty dinner of stew and in the morning a wonderful breakfast of stuffed french toast. Excellent road food for our trip out!

The dogs were settled in right away and Emmitt Peters Jr. (son of the well known Iditarod musher 'Yukon Fox') was right there to welcome the dogs with lodging, water and food. It was wonderful to meet up with him throughout the day and hear his quiet delight at having the dogs arrive. He will start training them to the short trail right away and already has his favorites. Taku reminded him of an old dog he used to have and Reba, with her energetic waving, had started making friends already.

It was very touching to see a new light come over the place as we watched from a distance workers come out from areas of the camp to shower attention and wonder on the new arrivals. The joy that those dogs brought, and will continue to bring, to everyones day throughout the summer is priceless.

It was harder to leave them there than I thought it would be... there is a strong motherly instinct that is present within even for the dogs who I haven't had for very long. The yard seems so empty now even though there are only three empty spots here. I'm already excited about bringing them home but I'm 100% content that the wonderful folks we met down there will take excellent care of them all.

I took more pictures in those 2 days than I have in my whole life... I plan to post a few more entries as I find the time to post more images of the dogs and our adventures into the park...