The night’s camping spot is a few miles east from the terminus of the thirty-two mile long Muldrow Glacier and along the McKinley Bar, a mile-wide expanse of gravel, mud, and meltwater that extends from the terminus of the glacier. A caribou was crossing the many channels of the bar earlier today, and twice had to swim through deep, fast-moving water, and many, many times had to wade across channels that often were as deep as its shoulder.
Today has been a good day — sun in the morning, views of the mountain while on the bus out here, and then perhaps eight miles of hiking before clouds moved in and I set up camp. I’m almost afraid to get in the tent and go to sleep for fear of missing something — I was lucky to see the caribou, and can only guess at what else might pop out of the brush as the evening wears on.