HEY BEAR!

Please forgive Ross and I if in the first few days back, we suddenly
yell out, "hey bear!" this is the standard hikers call so you don't
surprise the bears, and it has become a bit of habit now. We were out
in the backcountry for 6 nights and are back in a campground near the
entrance now. We had mostly good weather, including 2 gorgeous days
with clear skies for most of the day and breathtaking views of all the
mountains, including Mt. McKinley. While hiking, we saw many caribou,
marmots, arctic ground squirrels, ptarmigan, a momma and baby moose,
and yes, grizzlies. We had 3 sitings, including 1 that came within
about 150 meters while we were packing up a few mornings ago. We also
had a fox walk within 10 feet of us after we'd been dropped off at the
start of our hike. From the buses, we saw all of the above plus some
very active beavers and a herd of Dall sheep.

Today we took it easy and checked out the visitor center and a
demonstration with the park's sled dogs. We plan on doing some more
hiking in the next few days.

This is a great park. We've been really impressed with how they've
maintained the wilderness qualities, the educational things (the
visitor center was awesome! Great ecological displays), and the bus
system (and keeping cars mostly off the road) makes for easy travel
without the traffic jams, etc. Like you see in Glacier and
Yellowstone.