Bull caribou in the autumn tundra, Denali Naitonal Park, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f/4L IS, 1/100 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400.
On my late August trip to Denali Park, I decided to focus primarily on landscapes, since I was getting around on a bike and on foot. However, I did spend one cloudy afternoon in the pursuit of caribou. I spotted this bull some distance away and started trekking up the tundra hillside with my new Kiboko camera bag (Its a great lightweight bag that holds a 500mm with a body attached) . The bull had walked out of sight before I started, and after 30 minutes of hiking, he was no where to be found. The colors on the tundra were brilliant and in spite of the many directions this animal could have ventured, I continued walking the ridge line. Finally, I spotted him some distance away and made a slow approach.
The clouds to the west were getting thicker and darker, and I knew some serious rain was on the way. I stayed with the bull for a few hours, he bedded down to chew his cud, and I waited. The rain started, so I pulled out a storm jacket to cover my camera and lens (I like this cover because it is simple and very light weight). The rain increased so I decided to pack up and head back to my bike. The fog and clouds started moving in and by the time I arrived at the park road, I could see about 25 feet. I then biked about 7 miles back to the campground in absolutely pouring rain. Amazingly, I stayed pretty dry thanks to some new Patagonia rain gear. The rain paints have a side zipper system which is great because you can open them to vent when hiking. Since I wore them every day due to the heavy dew and water in the dwarf birch trees and tundra, I used the vent system all the time. In pouring rain on a bike however, I did get some water leakage along the zipper line. All in all, I got a few nice shots of this handsome bull caribou in peak autumn tundra colors.
