BEARS!!!
About an hour into our return trip, we came across a mom and two cubs along the side of the road at the Toklat River. The bears were on the opposite side of the bus from where we were sitting, but headed to cross the street to our side. In a mad dash to get the window open and stick my head out (remember, school bus) I banged the top of my head on the window frame. In reaction to that, I banged my chin on the bottom of the window frame (school buses have small windows, and I have a fat head). Very little blood loss – can’t even find where the blood came from, but there is a tiny bump on my chin. Well worth it for these pictures. I thought they would be frightened by the bus and continue walking, which is why I rushed. But they decided to hang out and put on a show. They were digging for roots, or something that may live under the roots of the shrubs you see. We actually left the bears while they were still there so other buses could get good views. We were probably there for 15 minutes.
We hiked back from Denali Park (about 1/2 hour) instead of waiting for the Princess shuttle bus. It was cold, but felt good to not be sitting (again, school bus). Dinner was at Princess’ Summit restaurant. I had the seafood sampler, which had halibut, Alaskan king crab, crab cakes, and some shrimp. Denise had seafood fettuccine loaded with shrimp, scallops, salmon and mussels. Both meals were excellent. We had warm apple pie (a-la-mode) for desert. Also top notch. We got a window seat with a great view.
Tomorrow we check out of the Denali Princess Lodge, board a train at about Noon for an 8 hour train ride from Denali to Anchorage. We are truly having a great time.