Alaska: June 10

"Congratulations on being alive!"

That's how a ranger greeted me when I stepped from the willow-filled river Savage River basin onto the road. Apparently there was a large grizzly moving rather quickly in our direction, as I sat by the river painting and Steve sat quietly nearby. "Quietly" was our mistake; we knew we needed to be making noise as we hiked, so that we wouldn't come upon a bear and surprise it, but apparently we also needed to make noise when sitting still, so that a bear wouldn't inadvertently come upon us and be surprised by our presence in his space. Thankfully we are here to tell the tale!

Moose

Savage River

A small glacier in the Savage River valley

Wolf Tracks along the high, narrow trail

Wolf track and my hand

Stephen on the steep slope

Trail on STEEP, HIGH slope

This V-shaped valley was carved by a river, hence the steep sides.

Tundra wildflowers beside trail

Aza

White-crowned Sparrow- they were ubiquitous

Willow Ptarmigan

Snowshoe Hare

Painting beside the Savage River in the U-shaped valley

This U-shaped valley was carved by a glacier, hence the broad, flat valley.

Stephen resting beside the Savage River

Grizzly bear track!

New bird today: Willow Ptarmigan