Justice on the Denali Highway

To have the context for this, you need to read the “Glenallen to Denali” post first. Try to picture the solitude and beauty of the Denali Highway.

True story. I swear…

OK, here’s the bad news.

There are Princess Cruise Line tour busses on the Denali Highway.

I was three hours down the Denali Highway when I saw the first one. Three hours down a gravel road with unforgettable scenery, around curves, and over mountain passes and one lane bridges. Three hours in which I saw two other vehicles, and zero people .

Then, as I headed down a hill toward a bridge over the Nenana river, I saw dozens of people milling about on the bridge and in the road in front of me. Their bus was pulled over to the side, and had big letters on the front advertising “PRINCESS”. This was a Princess Cruise Lines bus tour out of the Princess Denali Lodge. These were nice people who were spending the day on an optional wilderness tour as part of their land/sea/air vacation package. This was their rest stop before turning around and heading back to the Lodge. They were experiencing the wilderness.

There was a pickup truck on the other side of the bridge, waiting. He had stopped because the nice people on the bus tour were gathered on the one lane bridge taking wilderness pictures of the river. The tour director went out on the bridge and briarded (my new verb) them off the bridge so the pickup could get through. The pickup driver and I nodded and exchanged glances as he drove by and he headed into the 100 miles of gravel road ahead. Then it was my turn, and the tour director motioned to his folks to move over as I drove through.

I said good morning to all the nice people as I drove through, and got smiles and “Good Morning” in response. I believe they were all thrilled at seeing a genuine, silver haired Alaska mountain man coming out of the wilderness in his Explorer. I even have a week’s beard.

I saw the next bus about a half hour later, and it also said “PRINCESS” across the front. I had just pulled away from where I saw the wolf when I saw the bus coming down the road ahead. The wolf had been anxious to inspect the remains of the old campfire just off the road, but was wary of me and was in and out of the surrounding brush while I stayed there. I had pulled from him slowly, trying not to disturb him.

I still had my window down from taking pictures of the wolf. I put my arm out the window and started a “slow down” motion” to the bus driver. My immediate intent was to get the driver’s attention and have him stop. I thought that I would tell him that the wolf was still there just ahead, just off the road. If he drove by slowly, he probably wouldn’t spook the wolf, who was obviously interested in the old campsite. The passengers in the bus would have the opportunity perhaps of a lifetime, to see one of the wildest of creatures in Alaska. They could get pictures and could tell the folks at home and all their friends. Some of the folks at home and some of their friends might then want to come on a Princess Cruise Line vacation to Alaska. And some of them might even take the optional wilderness tour on the Denali Highway.

Or, if the driver didn’t slow down, the wolf would hear the bus coming, and run off into the brush before anyone on the bus knew he was there.

In the same motion that I started the “slow down” signal with , I raised my arm and gave a friendly wave at the bus as it went by. The nice driver smiled and waved back as he passed, never slowing down at all.

Take that, Princess Cruise Lines. This one’s for Skagway.