Getting around and shooting wildlife: as I described,the bus is the best and only (motorized) way of getting around the park. Of course you can hike, but, it's a huge park with no established trails and hiking through the thick alders, brush and soggy tundra is slow, arduous and impossible at times. Now add a pack with photo gear? and required outdoor and safety gear? not possible. Short sojourns into the tundra, river beds, mountain passes and forests of a couple of miles are possible of course. However, I found that for photo purposes there is little reason for such efforts, best photo ops are off the park's road. Example, I was hiking on the road between Eielson and Wonder Lake, beautiful area, wide open tundra overlooking the Muldrow Glacier and the Alaska Range. I spotted a large bull moose grazing about a quarter of a mile off the road. Although there were large patches of alders between me and the moose, most of the ground was covered with blueberries and grasses, easy to walk through. Twenty minutes later (and I hiked out there as quickly as I could, avoiding alder patches as much as possible) I was close enough to the moose for some close ups. This was a rare opportunity, usually wildlife is far, with terrain that does not permit approach. With the exception of these moose photos (21 and 37) all other wildlife photos where taken while hiking on the road or from the bus. And here is the problem with shooting wildlife from the bus, although the bus stops whenever there is a wildlife sighting, near or far, all photography must be done aboard the bus, no tripods. Hence note that all my Grizzly bear shots are not sharp . Generally bear is not close to the bus and my gallery photos are smallish crops from the full frame taken at 600mm with a VR lens. Now, the chances of seeing wildlife are increased by riding the bus for eight hours then hiking the road the same amount of time, but shooting out of a bus window is problematic. The rule is that if wildlife is spotted the bus will drop you off half a mile away. By the time you get back to the spot, often the animal is gone. So you take your chances ....hiking the road, it's easy, the landscape is overwhelmingly impressive and you hope you'd see some animals. At least then you'll have the option to set up your tripod. This bring me to the next challenge of wildlife photography. (I developed enormous admiration for wildlife photographers and truly appreciate the work that goes into a great wildlife photo) Bear and moose tend to stay put, (although the moose in photos 21 and 37 lied down as soon as I got to him, I had lunch in this beautiful spot and waited about half an hour 'till bullwinkel began to pose) but with other critters you don't have much time to mess around. I spotted a wolf, the alpha male, he disappeared within seconds, couldn'tget a shot off with my long VR lens. So you have to be fast and ready. What I found to work best for me was a light weight, short legged tripod that I carried with camera attached. I extended the legs when I had time and shot with the legs folded, tucked and resting into my belt for quicker action.

Reconnaissance: Even though I had plenty of time and had visited Denali, the logistics required planning for photo locations and times. The first day there I took my Denali map and compass (for sun direction) hopped on the bus for the long (seven hours from my camping location) but educational and gorgeous roundtrip to Wonder Lake. Along the way many photo ops as the bus stopped at rest spots and for wildlife viewing. As we rode along I marked the map for my chosen drop off points and hiking itinerary with comments regarding how cloudy weather will effect the photo op. e.g. no sense going out to shoot "the" mountain when cloudy. That evening I planned my photo itinerary for the next ten days. I think it worked out well, had the opportunity to photograph highlights from the entire length of the Denali park road.

Gear: I brought all my lenses but needed only two 24-120 VR and 80-400 VR. Thought I will get more use from the 12-24 but my preferred compositions did not lend themselves to super wide focal length. Graduated density filter and polarizer were very useful. The small two pound Slik Pro GM did just fine. Hiked five to seven mile per day and carried my cameras and gear in a Kelty 3000 Redwing backpack, as described in "in my bag," worked great. Comfortable carry, easy access, tripod strapped on nicely to the side ski carrier with room to spare for wind and warmth gear along with food and water.