We had 2 excursions today that were great! We rented a jeep with Becky and Jack and went exploring. First to Stampede road, in hopes of seeing wildlife and a glimpse of Mt. McKinley. Only 20% of the park visitors actually get to see the peak due to clouds and weather. We lucked out and got a great view of it. As we were driving, a moose comes out of no where and ran parallel to the jeep and then veered off into the brush. We tried to drive with it and it eventually crossed the road to the opposite side. We also drove into a canyon on a creek bed and saw coal stripes and a small creek. We saw ptarmigan birds (the official state bird) eating pea gravel, 2 swans gracefully floating in a pond, and some great views. We were out from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm. We had a little bit of a problem with a flat tire, but the guys eventually found a tire wrench and got it fixed-the rental agency gave us an extra couple of hours for our problem, allowing us more exploration. We grabbed some hamburgers for lunch, then met our entire group at the lodge for the 8 hour Wilderness tour that goes 60 miles deep into the park on a bus, with an excellent guide. The park is 6 million acres-the size of Rhode Island. Cars are only allowed to go 10 miles deep, so this tour will enable us to see much more. The bus driver/guide has been here 8 years and has a wealth of information. He stops for any wildlife sightings or scenic pictures that we request. The trip in is different from the trip out due to the lighting. We hit a home run and see McKinley at 3 different areas, moose, caribou, dahl sheep, coyote, porcupine and beautiful scenes everywhere! What a thrill! The driver has a camera and films the special events/wildlife seen on our tour and we order a DVD to keep as a record of this remarkable day. I really thought 8 hours might be too long and get boring, but every turn is a new view and an adventure in itself. We are allowed to get off the bus, take occasional rest stops and exit to get photos- the trip was well worth the time!