Denali was certainly the highlight of their trip – the huge wilderness, the animal encounters, the photo opportunities… and all of these nearly paled to the beauty of the landscape which was well into its fall splendor.

Needless to say, the sorting of pictures will take awhile (Mary took 600 images on one day alone). Here are a few from her collection:

 

These little bear cubs were irresistible. They had discovered traffic cones (set up to identify a rough spot in the road) and were having a grand time squishing them, trying to pick them up to carry them off, and biting the ends. Their mom finally rounded them up to head down the road but they provided a great show for them for quite a while.

 

When our four travelers weren’t looking for animals, they were eating at one of their favorite restaurants, Denali’s “Salmon Bake” or “The Bake” as fondly referred to by locals. Of the six days they were there, they ate at this quirky place four times, enjoying halibut tacos, crab cakes, elk burgers, king crab grilled cheese sandwiches and luscious desserts.

 

 

 

 

 

[Photos by Mary VanCott]