AM

Dumkoff here forgot to record the most exciting event of yesterday: GRIZZLY! When we were scouting out lodging, we saw a group of people looking @ something down on the riverbank. It was a wild grizzly feeding on a moose carcass. I got some photos from a safe distance.

PM

Today we took 6 hours to drive 60 miles, but it was well worth it. We traveled the park road until it was closed. Animal sightings: ptarmigan, arctic ground squirrel, marmot, caribou, snowshoe hare, and a bird we have yet to ID [gray jay].

We drove back and were very lucky. It was a clear day and Denali rose majestically in the distance. It looked like a peak in a fantasy painting. We hike a bit on the closed road-the rangers don't mind as long as you don't take the car. On the way back I climbed a huge, huge rock where I saw the marmot.

Viewed a northern lights movie. Ted enjoyed it. I thought it a bit long on the music and short on info. We have rearranged the rest of the trip. The hike ahs been cut out. I don't know how I feel about that, but we are seeing many wonderful things. Here's the question: What's more important for this trip-experiencing Alaska or hiking Alaska?