Ode to Denali

To the editor —

After traveling through Denali National Park during the recent road lottery with friends from the East Coast, I was inspired to try and capture some of the majesty that abounds there. Those of you fortunate enough to experience the park during this event each year know exactly what I speak of; those who have not ought to remedy that as soon as possible.

Thank you, Denali, for sharing your magic with us. Your boundaries are home to a very special place, made even more so by the presence of true friends. Your vistas and visions, and the memories they provided, will sustain us through the long winter ahead. The list of spectacles witnessed include:

Caribou: three, one rubbing off its velvet

Dall sheep: four, high on a mountain ridge

Gray jay: five, in a family group

Grizzly bear: 14, one sow with two young cubs; one sow with one older cub (3-year-old); nine boars, mostly blonde and/or silver, one very dark chocolate, and one dark with a white neck collar

Ground Squirrel: two (thought one was a marmot, but after some research, not so much…)

Magpie: five, including one on the ground nearby with magnificent iridescence

Moose: nine, three cows and six bulls, including one huge beast with perhaps a 70-inch rack and the largest, longest, widest “bell” I have ever seen dangling from his throat, and one young bull crossing the road ahead of us, then heading up a gravel bed in the late evening as we drew near the park exit

Red squirrel: one, early on in the trip, first critter spotted

Raven: four, including two conversing out at Wonder Lake

Other birds: several small raptors, likely sharp-shinned hawks, flying fast at three different locations, as well as many small birds, also flying too fast to identify

Rainbow: one, extremely wide, touching the ground on one side, eventually visible across much of the sky — spectacular across the mountains!

The sky: Awesome and numerous sky and cloud formations, including an alpenglow sunset on the way out of the park. Many stars visible on the way out, but no Aurora.

Ahhh…

‘Til again we see you

Denali, we bid you adieu

You have taken our breath away

And beckoned us all to stay

We will return, for sure

To once again take the tour

Along your slinky winding backbone

To bear witness to your throne

We thank you for the chance

To view your essence with a glance

We are humble in your grace — such a wondrous place

You stop us in our pace, to pay homage to your space

We will miss you.

Randi Perlman

Big Lake