# 2 Teklanika Camp to Polychrome Pass

Polychrome Pass Summit at mile 45.0 is a rest stop with toilets. The stop is a good opportunity to view and take pictures of the Toklat River Valley.

We were lucky to see the Grizzlies with cubs.


In the Denali Borough (known as county in the lower 48) there are : 300 grizzlies, 2,000 moose,

2,000 caribou, 2,500 Dall sheep, 1,943 human beings, and about 80 adult wolves.

You'd think the bears don't want their pictures taken as they are always so far from the road. The cubs are so cute.

Did you know that Brown Bears and Grizzles are the same species? The males can weigh over 500 pounds, the females slightly less. New born cubs weigh 1 pound and can live up to 25 years. When the Grizzlie stands up, it is trying to see and smell. Bears eat almost anything from grass to squirrels, roots, berries and salmon in Costal AK.

Elegant Poison Camas, Mountain Death Camas, White Camas (below).

Glaucous Gentian (above)

The magnificent multi-color in the rock is obviously why the area was called Polychrome.

With views of the Toklat Vally. It is a good
place to hike and take pictures. Drop off from
one Park bus; return on another Park bus.

This Summit at Polychrome is the most narrow in the Park. If anyone is afraid of height, don't watch or look down as you go around this curve very, very close to the edge--room enough only for one bus at a time.

Polychrome (multi color rock hills) view

Do you see what we mean by a narrow road. The view around the curve is worth the the risk..... They say that no buses have fallen off the road here; none that were not recovered at any rate.

A very far away view of Golden Eagles

And Caribou on the Ridge.

For all of you who believe in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, I have to tell you that reindeer and caribou are the same animal, however, the reindeer have been domesticated. Both the male and female caribou grow antlers. Caribou travel in herds and there are 32 known herds in Alaska. The herds travel over trunda and boreal forest, migrating from calving grounds in search of food, just as they did during the Ice Age. They eat lichens, sedges, shrubs and willow.

Denali National Park and Preserve is home to
many colorful mountain ranges. If you never
see Mt. McKinley, the drive and time spent in
Denali won't have been wasted. We didn't see the
"big one" until the day we left, and we really, really enjoyed the Park anyway.

The bare willow shrubs are due to the Arctic Hares (rabbits) which eat the leaves and bark, particularly in the winter when other food is scarce. How could it be the Hare? They are not that tall, you may ask when the willow bushes seem so tall? In the winter the high snow pack reaches the top levels of the willow shrubs which makes it easy for the Hares to munch away.

In the distance is the bridge over the East Fork of the Toklat River. The Alaska Range and several glaciers are visible along the East Fork. The elevation is 3, 061.




BBYN, Karen and Don