Where the Sheep Take You in Denali National Park

A good reason to pursue many wildlife species is that you get to go where they live. That is the case with dall sheep, and few animals have a more stunning daily view.

On this day, fall was officially a couple of weeks away, but the Denali National Park tundra was aflame in color, and the mountains were loaded with snow.

While climbing to the sheep, I couldn't help pausing to capture this scene. The strong-textured dark foreground ridgeline, red huckleberries in mottled sunlight in the valley, high contrast snowy mountains in the distance, and a straight dark cloud putting a cap on the scene seemed a composition worthy of a photo.

The ability to capture this composition is an example of the advantage of a 100-something mm telephoto zoom lens vs. a 200-600mm, 200-800mm, or similar option.