Wolf Tales

Early Morning Magic

By: Janine Niebrugge

(This story was inspired by an early morning photo shoot in Denali National Park.)

Transformed by the light of the rising or setting sun, even the most tired landscape becomes inspired. A photographer, my husband Ron, is always chasing this “magic" light.

Morning dawns with a hint of blue sky and the sun waits patiently just below the horizon poised to begin its graceful rise upward. The air is crisp and filled with the energy of a new day. I listen as the quiet forest comes alive with the sounds of songbirds and scampering feet of snowshoe hares playing their games of hide-and-seek on the forest floor. My eyes, alert for movement, are amazed when they come to rest on the elusive black wolf not more than twenty feet away. Joining the morning symphony, the wolf’s howls echo forlornly off the valley walls. The haunting sound vibrates through the air with a tension that heightens the senses.

Beckoned by the luring howl, the sun rises over the horizon and bathes the forest in a soft yellow-orange light. The wolf’s black coat, still full from winter, is backlit and glows orange as if on fire, and with each howl a faint yellow mist curls upward from his mouth. Spellbound, I watch and listen. The black wolf’s siren call draws a gray wolf from the forest. As if old friends reunited, they greet each other affectionately. Tenderly they nuzzle, nose to nose, their black and gray fur a pleasing contrast edged in an electrifying orange light. Playfully, they begin to paw and jump at one another until distracted; the black wolf looks skyward and lets out another series of long forlorn howls. Reluctant to join the others, a third wolf hesitates at the forest’s edge.

Silence fills the valley and surrealistically the day has begun. The sun continues her graceful climb into the sky and the wolves go their separate ways. The morning light has worked its “magic.” The photographer smiles, satisfied.

Here are more photos of wild wolves.