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North to Alaska - Movies - Day 30 (June 15)

Tuesday - We were able to get on the early (6:25 AM) bus for a ride along the same road but today were headed for Wonder Lake, 85 miles in. There seemed to be more wildlife awake at this earlier hour. We shifted back and forth inside the bus trying to get the best view of many scattered grizzlies (at least 10), a radio-collared wolf who trotted calmly along the road right next to the bus, numerous caribou (some resting on snow patches trying, according to our driver, to rid themselves of fly larvae by jamming their noses into the snow), enough Dall Sheep to cause a traffic jam of busses, a trio of Golden Eagles and many fat ground squirrels. Margaret noted lots of colorful wild flowers; arnica, potentilla, moss campion, creeping phlox, lupine, arctic poppies, dwarf fireweed, vetch, bunch berries and many other unidentified patches of color. There were beaver lodges, a green glacier, a five-story-tall "erratic" boulder (one deposited there by a glacier) and our second day's awesome view of Denali in all its splendor. Clouds moving in and hoards of mosquitoes down-graded our visit to Wonder Lake, making us happy to get back on the bus for our return to camp.