ALASKA ADVENTURES: HUSKY PUPPIES & JEEP SAFARI

9 AUGUST 2014

For you Iditarod lovers out there you will be jealous of our tour this morning.  Jeff King, 4 time winner of the Iditarod, opens his kennel in the summer months for people to visit and learn about what it takes to raise, train and run Alaskan Huskies.  

As soon as we step off the bus we are met by one of Jeff’s staff with an armload of puppies.  We each get a puppy to hold. 

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Some are a little older and some just a few weeks old.  The two weekers come with a diaper to hold under them.  We learn that this is the first stage of their training - socialization with and handling by many strangers.

We are seated outside facing the dog yard where each dog has a house, swivel chain attached to the top of the house, bucket of water and food dish.  Huskies are very active dogs; constantly on the move.  They yip and jump and run around and around. 

Dog Yard

They are born to pull and run and are at their happiest when they can work.  

Husky dogs you see in the movies are Siberian Huskies and are not as strong or have as much endurance as the Alaskan Husky.  They are prettier, though, which is why the film industry uses those.

Resting

One of the handlers hitches a team of 8 dogs to a tractor.  The other dogs go ballistic.  They want to go too.  The musher gets on the tractor and gives the word.  Off the dogs go pulling 600 pounds of man an tractor behind them.  This is how they keep in shape and train over the summer.

They also have two wheels much like hamster wheels.  One is for the adult dogs, the other for the puppies.  These wheels give them running exercise without having to go long distances.

Adult Wheel

Jeff is a very interesting and funny fellow.  A natural entertainer he explains all about the process to get to the point where mushers are ready to run in the Iditarod.  Bottom line: it takes more skill and strategy than strength to be a winning musher, but it takes many years and other races to be ready to mush with the big guys/gals.

As I listen to Jeff I hear the passion he has for the sport, the love he has for his dogs and the desire to be the best.  Be the best he can be, but not at the expense of any of his dogs.  I must say after listening to him I now have the desire to witness this race.  The fanfare starts in Anchorage, but the race really begins in Willow ending in Nome.

To learn more about the race, its history and list of winners, and all other information go to www.iditarod.com.

Later in the evening we set out on a Denali Jeep Adventure.  When we booked this tour we were unaware it was a self-drive off road experience.  When we got our documents and read the full description of the tour, Sandra announced she was not driving.  Now, I love to drive, but wasn’t sure I wanted to drive either.  We decided there must be two guys who would both want to drive the whole time (there are 4 to a jeep) and we could team up with them.  With that plan in mind we cheerfully get into the van that delivers us to the jeep site.

The string of jeeps were pretty sad looking.  Dirty, covered with mud, parts missing, etc. 

BUT sure enough there are two guys on their own.  Our plan is working!  Until we start to get into the jeep with them.  They said, and the guide agreed, you can have your own jeep!!!  Great! Not! So, I get behind the wheel with Sandra in the passenger or navigator seat.

The guide is driving his jeep in front, two couples are in the next jeep, the two guys, then us and finally two couples in the caboose jeep.  We set off for the trail by crossing over the highway and onto a paved road.  So far, so good.  We are in communication with the guide and other drivers via CB radio.  On the way down the paved road our guide, who looks 12, encourages us to test the feel of the steering by weaving back and forth across the road.  He does 180 degree circles as do the yahoos in front of us.  I just play drunk driver to test my steering.

We reach the beginning of the dirt road that will lead us through the wilds on the edge of Denali park.  At this point   we throw the jeeps into 4 wheel drive and prepare to have our off road experience.  The car behind the guide then complains they are overheating.  The guide tells them to turn on the heat and assures them that by the time we go through the first water hazard the engine will be cool.

They don’t buy it and will not drive with the heat blasting .  It is a hot day and stuffy with the windows rolled up.  Sandra tests our fan and we promptly get a face and nose full of dust.  We decide hot and stuffy beats dusty.  The guide then approaches us to see if we will trade cars and go in the overheating one.  Uh NO!  I suggest that the couples split up: two with us and two with the yahoos.  They opt to go back because they want to be together.

After that is settled we are ready to set out, one jeep less.  Our guide says we will bottom out on one of the bumps through the next hazard and when we do to put the peddle to the metal to keep the jeep from hanging up on the rock.  Super!!!  We are to go through the hazard one jeep at a time.

The hazard is full of water, deep mud and huge pot holes.  The guide goes through.  The yahoos go through.  They have all been driving the jeeps up the sides of the banks along the road, so I’m not sure how to follow them through this.  It’s my turn, so I take a deep breath and go for it.  Sandra has assumed the crash position with her head down and eyes closed holding onto a bar across the dash board.

I’m doing great.  We bottom out, I put the pedal to the metal and clear the rock, so far so good.  Then the jeep begins a sudden slide to the left which is too fast for me to react, plus requiring strength.  The left side slams into the forest and the front rams into some bushes.  I try reverse, I try rocking between forward and reverse.  All I accomplish is to dig us in deeper.

I begin laughing until I see the face of our guide as he surveys the situation.  I apologize for laughing, but it is still funny.  He attempts to pull us with a tow.  Nope.  He attempts to push us backward with his jeep.  Nope.  He attempts to pull us again - tow breaks in half.  Nope.  he then gets stuck and has to be rescued by the yahoos.

He gets behind us with another tow to pull us.  Nope.  Now we are even more jammed into the forest on the left and deeper in the mud.  Finally he is able to push us out.  By this time he is covered with mud has smoked two cigarettes and is a nervous wreck.  I’m still laughing and Sandra resumes the crash position.

I successfully navigate the rest of the hazard up and out.  We stop at a camp for stew and fry bread.  Back in the car I ask if that was the easiest or hardest hazard.  He says hardest, but we are not going back through it we will drive around.  Perfect!

Driving around means breaking trail through the forest.  A sharp left turn into something I could not see takes us into the forest.  Sandra is still in the crash position.  We go through the brush, through another deep water hazard, and into the woods again to get around someone whose ATV has broken down in the middle of the trail.  Sandra is still in the crash position.

We arrive back at the starting point.  I get out to survey the damage once again.  We left a front and rear fender in the woods, the license plate in the back is hanging by a thread.  Our guide says “it’s all good”.  

Before

After

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

ALASKA ADVENTURE: JET BOAT WILDERNESS TOUR

8 AUGUST 2014

Before we board the train again for our ride to Denali we board the Talkkeetna Queen

 Jet Boat For Safari - Note Opaque Color of River

for a jet boat ride on the rivers around Talkeetna.  The main river we travel is called the Susitna.  All the rivers in the area end with “na” which means river in the Athabascan Indian language.  This river name means sandy river.  Talkeetna means river of plenty.

The river is opaque due to the glacier melt that feeds the river.  When a glacier moves it grinds the rock into fine, fine nano particles making the river full of rich nutrient silt.  If you are to take a glass of the water and filter out the silt you will have crystal clear pristine glacier water.

We stop along the way to view a beaver house, bald eagle nest and a house that is off the grid known as a dry house.  Dry house means no running water even though the river flows right by it.  Electricity is created by solar panels and generator.  This one looks like it is about to fall into the river.  One more pass of torrential water in the spring and it may just take enough of the river bank with it to cause the house to slid into the river.

Our last stop is at a Dena’ina Indian Encampment and a trapper cabin with the original furnishings.  As we leave the boat for our Safari I notice the guide is carrying a gun! 

Guide - Note Gun On Her Right

She informs us that we could encounter bear and or moose.  Interestingly, moose cause more human deaths each year than bear!!!  By a lot!!!

Our guide is also an naturalist.  She points out the different edible berries as well as poisonous to humans berries along the way.  At the Indian village she shows us skins of the various animals the indians used for bedding, clothing and meat.  There is a beaver trap, a cooking pit and a “refrigerator”.

Beaver Trap

A clever contraption traps the beaver when it chews through the supporting stick causing the large log to fall on the animal.

Refigerator

This hole in the ground is their refrigerator.  The sticks keep the meat off the ground.  They layer sticks, meat, stick, meat and then cover it with leaves to hold in the cold from the frozen ground.

The leanto serves as shelter. There is a fire pit in front for warmth and to keep the animals at bay.  Animal skins on the ground keep them warm. The water proof baskets are made of white birch bark.

This is the cooking pit where they smoked and cooked their meat.

At the trapper cabin we see how the trapper protected his food and catch when he was away trapping in his cache located on stilts way above the ground.  She shows the type of skins the trapper trapped for his livelihood.

Trapper Cabin

The trapper cabin has a sod roof.  First a roof  made of small logs is laid then covered with waterproof white birch bark and finally with sod. The vegetation on top is whatever is already found in the soil and is a mystery until it grows.

Inside Cabin

Inside the cabin there is a low ceiling which keeps in the heat. The door swings out because bear know how to push but not pull!

Cache

High above the ground the trapper puts his food and catch to keep animals out. He removes the ladder at night and when he is away from camp on trapping expeditions.

Mink, Fox & Marten

Furs of some of the animals the trapper trapped to sell and trade.

After this adventure, we board the Princess Train Cars for the ride into Denali.  We both agree that the Holland America Dome Car experience is a cut above the Princess Dome Car experience.  Our destination is the Denali Princess Lodge and more adventures.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

ALASKA ADVENTURES GLACIER WALKING

7 AUGUST 2014

After an overnight in Anchorage at the Clarion Suites and a viewing of a film about the Northern Lights, we board the Holland America Train

Not Holland America But Commemorative of Alaskan Railroad

to Talkeetna today.

Talkeetna is the town the TV series called Northern Exposure was taken after.  The town voted down having the film shot there!  No surprise, as the town folk are very independent, but also very friendly and down to earth.

The scenery along the way is spectacular and the ride very enjoyable, but the best part of the day is the flying adventure and landing on a glacier.  We are picked up at our hotel the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

and driven through the quaint town of Talkeetna to Talkeetna Air Taxi to catch our flight.

We don overboots so we will not freeze our feet as well as our snuggy clothes for the adventure.  Mike, the pilot of the Beaver, gives us our safety speech.  He tells us that weather can change in a nano-second up on the glacier and because of that the plane

The Beaver

is equipped with survival gear.  We could be up on the glacier for a few hours, days or weeks, maybe.  There are DREs (the dreaded military rations), sleeping bags, flares, tents, first aid kits, etc for us to use if need be.  After listening to all of this we still opt to go.

Then Mike asks “who wants to be my co-pilot?”  My hand shot up so fast I almost tore my arm out of its socket.  As it turned out I am the only one who wants this seat since no one wanted to displace me on the way back!

The scenery on the way to the glacier defies description, but I have included a few pictures here to give you some idea.

Glacial Lakes

Up In The Mountains. Who Can See The Man?

Rounding The Corner To The Ruth Glacier

The Blue Is The Glacial Ice Color

On The Glacier

Mike & Me

Mike & Sandra

More Blue Showing Through

On the glacier the temperature is 27F.  It is so beautiful, serene and silent. There has been no snow fall lately causing the snow cover to turn icy.  When I make a snowball it quickly turns into an ice ball.

We return to the lodge with a sense of awe about the magnificence and grandeur of all we surveyed.  A thoroughly fantastic experience.

Sunset From My Room At 11:30PM!

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

ALASKA ADVENTURES HOMER

4&5 August 2014

The drive from Seward to Homer is on a dark, stormy and sometimes foggy day.  The good news is it is a dark, stormy and sometimes foggy day so there wasn’t much outdoor stuff we can do anyway.  The bad news is it is a dark, stormy and sometimes foggy day for driving the two lane roads.  But it is all perfect!

The Lands End Resort is just that - at the end of the Homer Spit as far out as one can get and is right on the

Lodge As Seen From The Beach

water.  The first thing that catches my eye as I check in is MASSAGE!!!  Yes!  Boy do I need one, so I leave a message at the spa for an appointment for the next day.

We have no planned activities in Homer, just R&R and exploration of the area.  We choose massages and R&R!!  We do walk around the cute little village at the end of the spit to check out the stores.  Captain Patties is recommended as a great place to have dinner and it doesn’t disappoint.  Homer has the eastern most road in Alaska called East End Road.  It is under construction so we opt to skip driving out to the end.

After the rainy journey, we are blessed with great weather for the days we are in Homer.   Follows are some pictures of the beach in front of my deck off of my room and some pictures of the outside and inside of the resort.

Cairn I Built To Bless Sierra Leone

Inside my room.  Looks and feels like a ship cabin.  Cute!

Jelly freshly washed up on the shore.

Dark and stormy sky does not deter fishing from the shore. Homer is known for fishing.

Beach, sky, water and mountains all forming a painted picture as only nature can paint.

This plaque is on a stone carved bench on the beach looking out at the water.  Jean would sit and feed the eagles from this location sometimes surrounded by 50 or more bald eagles. The city has decided to stop the activity so the memory of Jean can stay alive.  I will always "shake my feathers" as she has advised.

HUGE kelp mass washed up. At first I thought the gigantic tubes were rubber hoses.  Massive.

This flower is all over Alaska and is called Fireweed. Once it loses its blooms, they say summer is over. It is starting to lose them now!

The next destination is the Talkeetna Mountains by way of Anchorage and a dome train.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara

ALASKA JOURNEY

3 AUGUST 2014

There They Go!

Here They Come

After a leisurely morning hanging around the apartment and watching the action of a mommy duck and a string of her babies on a morning swim in the water off the deck, we set out to join our Major Marine Tour out of Seward on Resurrection Bay, into the Gulf of Alaska and up a Fjord to Holgate Glacier.

What is a Fjord? (Pronounced fee-YORD) A Fjord is a body of water that is basically an inlet that reaches the ocean but follows a long, narrow path inland.  It is generally surrounded by high rocky cliffs which were created by glaciation.  The movement of the glacier is so strong it can, over a long period of time, carve out land as dense and thick as rock.  Most of the world’s fjords are found in Alaska, Greenland, Norway, Chile, Canada and New Zealand.

Our Route. See the Circle On The Map For Holgate Glacier

We are barely started when the catamaran slows down to view sea otters.  There are three of them laying on their backs.  One of them is a real show-off holding up his/her little arms and then turning over in the water to bob up and do it again.  They are so much fun to watch.

The next sightings are a Bald Eagle, both Horned and Tufted Puffins, a Kittwake and Common Murre.  A mountain goat makes an appearance way up the side of a mountain and is a small buff colored dot against the black rock.

Then........... two Humpback Whales cavorting with each other.  One of them holds up both his fins at the same time and waves them about.  I have seen many Humpbacks in Hawaii and Tonga, but I have never seen one do this with both of the fins at the same time.

They entertain us for quite a while waving, breaching, rolling, and diving.  Usually once they dive it can be a long time before they surface, but because these two were playing with each other, they popped up very quickly to continue the show.  

Next we see loads of brown blobs on a rock that turn out to be Steller Sea Lions.  Later one lone Harbor Seal is asleep on a rock close to the glacier.

It is a cold and rainy overcast day, but I am prepared with a rain slicker, down vest, sweatshirt, long underwear, gloves etc.  According to some, this kind of weather is the best for viewing wildlife which is proving to be true.  The naturalist keeps saying “you guys are so lucky” over and over again.

The captain and crew warned us over and over to be aware it will be quite choppy once we are in the Alaska Gulf and they were not kidding!!  We rock, roll, pitch and yaw.  Holding on outside is a must and keeping soft knees inside keeps me from pitching over.  All I can say is thank goodness for Bonine.

Once we cross the gulf and are in the fjord headed for the glacier, the sea becomes calm enough to serve lunch.  Fresh Wild Salmon and prime rib are the choices along with a salad and rice pilaf.  Yummy.  We are eating when the naturalist says “Oh my god I don’t believe this”  She is pointing out two Orca, aka as killer, Whales

Orca "Whales"

(which are really of the dolphin family)that are following our boat as we go up the fjord to see the glacier.  It just gets better and better.

Finally the boat approaches the glacier.  It is massive with both white and blue colored ice.  It snaps, cracks and groans as it moves across the land down into the

Holgate Glacier

water.  It calves multiple times spewing out small amounts of ice and water.  The ice it releases floats in the water around the glacier.  In the picture of the large piece of ice it looks like it has a halo.  This is actually a reflection of the portion of the floating ice that is below the surface.  There is always more ice below the surface than above.

"Halo" Effect 

A large calving of a glacier creates ice burgs and the bigger the burg the more dangerous it is to ships due to the hidden amount below the surface.  Think Titanic!

Glacier and Offspring

As if we need to see more, on our way back pods of Dall’s Porpoise rush around our boat chasing fish to eat.  At another location they just follow our boat surfacing and diving so we can get a great view of them.  Also below the bow can be seen Moon Jelly Fish.  They are opalescent to clear in color and are gracefully floating up and down.

All in all a magnificent day.  Even the crew agreed that we are one lucky bunch to witness all we did out in nature today.  They give the day a 10 and so do we!!!

Tired, but exhilarated at the same time we head to dinner at Ray’s for Halibut (freshly caught) and scallops and then to our spot on the bay for a good night’s rest.

Tomorrow will be spent driving to Homer.

Much Love To You All,

Mom/Grandma Syrup/Sara