Aug 14, 2007 00:36
Friday, I went hiking up Mt. Margaret with my friend Alissa. We got off the bus and hiked another mile up the road, where we went at the mountain from the southern, more even slope. First we made our way through half a mile of waist-deep brush, then we started uphill at a slope which quickly became 60 degrees steep, making our way through all sorts of loose rock and grass and gravel. Over the first ridge, we laid down and took a nap - enjoying fresh air and SILENCE for a change!
We made our way up a second, then a third ridge, and crossed to the other side of the mountain where we quickly determined hiking further would not be possible. We went back to the other side and circled around the base of a rocky cliff leading to one peak, then down into a slight dip and back up a fourth ridge. We saw Dall sheep in the distance - the sheep we had spent all summer looking for - so we sat down to eat and watch them before heading on to try and get closer.
At this point, we noticed a lone sheep sitting on the side of the mountain which was too rocky for us to continue on, and much closer than the sheep in the distance. We finished eating and see the sheep has disappeared. I walked over to the edge we just climbed over and see not one, but THREE Dall sheep wandering into the dip we just walked out of. I waved frantically to Allisa to hurry up, loaded some film, and we started towards the sheep slowly (made easier by difficult terraine).
I had previously talked to the ancient driver for Denali Air, who has worked in this area for somewhere near 50 years, and he recommended a slow, zig-zagged approach to get close to any herd animal, and to stop and look all the way behind you if the sheep glances up. This makes them think you are a grazing animal like them and therefore not dangerous.
So we keep walking towards them, following this advice, and I'm surprised to see them making their way towards us as well. I realize they're as curious about us as we are of them, so when we got about 5 yards away we went and sat down by a rock and just watched. The sheep came closer and closer with their heads raised and their noses sniffing the air - I could see their red eyes and their breathing even! They were very white and all three had large horns; I was almost worried they might be territorial and come at us. They came right up to the rock we were sitting on and all three positioned themselves to get a nice good look at us from about 5 feet away.
They wandered off up the ridge, and we were absolutely ecstatic. The sheep made my entire summer, because I saw them in the zoo before I left Denver and it had been my mission since to see, really SEE, them in the WILD before I left the park. This is the holy grail of Denali Park for me! We were so elated, and it was already 7:30 at night by this point, we took the shortest way off the mountain and all but ran through the shrubs, making it back to the road in an hour and a half (as opposed to four hours hiking up).