GOING WILD
Looking out for grizzly bears on big Alaskan adventure inspired by ITV show The Cruise
THE advice is simple. If a bear charges you, grin and bear it. If a moose charges you, then vamoose. Alaska is one of the world’s last great wildernesses – with the emphasis on the wild.
There’s wildlife in abundance, from grizzly bears and muscled moose to soaring eagles and daredevil Dall sheep.
And nowhere more so than in Denali National Park – more than six million acres of taiga, tundra and towering mountains.
It pays to keep your wits about you, we’re told by a ranger. Not just so you can spot the wildlife but because it can certainly spot you.
The golden rule is to keep your distance, at least 300 yards, from bears. If you can easily identify a bear, you’re too close.
“If you encounter a bear at close range, do not run,” we’re warned. “If the bear is unaware of you, detour quickly and quietly away. If the bear is aware of you, back away slowly while waving your arms above your head and speaking to the bear in a low, calm voice.
“If a bear charges, do not run or drop your pack. Bears sometimes charge, coming within 10ft of a person before stopping or veering off. Dropping a pack may encourage the bear to approach you for food. Stand still until the bear moves away, then slowly back off.”
And if, in the worst case scenario, a grizzly makes contact, play dead.
Moose are a different kettle of salmon. They weigh up to 115st – that’s four times the weight of a grizzly in Denali – and will charge anything they think is threatening.
“If a moose charges you, it’s because you’re in its territory,” says the ranger. “Get away as fast as you can. Run between trees – that will hinder the moose’s progress.
“Moose aren’t predatory, and they will not try to eat you. They’ll just trample you instead.”
Suitably reassured, I find myself riding an ATV (that’s a quad bike to you and me) along the edge of the park.
We bounce along rocky paths that tip the bikes from side to side, under the watchful eyes of instructors Jakub and Marie, who came out west from the Czech Republic, loved the place and stayed.
We splash through a river, pause under giant gravel slopes and stop for several sublimely silent photo opportunities, looking out across the park. It’s fun, exciting at times, but not the way to sneak up on the wildlife. Quiet, quad bikes are not. Next day, we leave our base at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and take to the white water of nearby Nenana River. Fully wetsuited and booted, we ride Grade II and III rapids with guide Bo, a double for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. For two hours we get gloriously soaked, taking tranquil time out between rapids to
marvel at the cliffs on either side of the ravine, dotted with sheep.
Eagles fly overhead and the last of the salmon linger in the water – we’re two weeks too late for the height of the run – as we make our way downstream.
At times, it’s impossible not to think of the Fellowship making their way down the river in The Lord of the Rings.
But to experience Denali National Park in all its autumn glory, rich in reds, yellows and golds, there’s only one place to go. Head into the heart of the park itself.
At most times of year, entry is only on school buses manned by rangers, keeping the park pristine.
Be warned, however, that once a year there’s a lottery. Locals get the rare chance to drive their own cars in, although it’s limited to 400 a day.
Over four days, winners can drive as much of the Denali Park Road as the weather allows.
Our visit coincides with the first day, so there’s more traffic than usual, and the wildlife is wary. Although they are spotted during the day, the grizzly bears keep their distance. We see snow hares, ptarmigans, grouse, Dall sheep and eagles.
The scenery is breathtaking, especially when Denali, the mountain formerly known as McKinley, makes a rare appearance as the clouds part.
As few as 30 per cent of visitors ever see the 20,308ft peak, which is usually hidden by its own forbidding weather system.
But we’re fortunate to have what the rangers tell us has been the best weather of the season. Denali is bathed in sunlight, reaching up into an impossibly blue sky.
Only days before, we’d been further to the south, at the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge in Trapper Creek, and there’d been scant sign of the mountain then.
The Wilderness Lodges – owned by Princess Cruises – are the largest hotels in Alaska.
In the middle of nowhere, sprawling grounds house timber-clad blocks of bedrooms around central restaurants, exhibition spaces and lounges with open fires.
The rooms offer rustic comfort, albeit with all mod cons. There’s wifi in the public areas but you can kiss your mobile phone signal goodbye up here.
And that’s part of the attraction – the chance to get away from routine, to relax in the best Mother Nature has to offer.
The McKinley Lodge has a new, and impressive, treehouse from where to watch for the mountain. It’s a bit of a trek uphill but the views from the balcony are stunning.
Our time at both lodges is comfortably laid-back – bar the occasional adrenaline adventure outing, a minor earth tremor and the appearance of the Northern Lights on two nights.
Food and wine in the restaurants are good, with salmon unsurprisingly high on the agenda.
But what’s it like when winter sets in? We’re on a Princess Cruises Land & Sea Vacation. We’ll shortly be leaving by train for the nine-hour journey to board Star Princess, for the last sailing south before the ice tightens its grip.
Denali Lodge general manager Bonnie Westlund says a skeleton staff remain behind during the long, cold, dark months.
“We gather in the lounge each year after all of our guests have departed,” she grinned. “We put a big sheet up and we watch The Shining together.”
Only in Alaska. Jack Nicholson would be proud. ● The Cruise is on STV at 8.30pm on Thursday.