Skagway Mushers Camp

We were informed Alaskan Huskies are a different dog to the Siberian Husky. If the Siberian Husky competed in the Iditerod it would take them 2 weeks to get to the finish compared to 8 to 15 hours doe an Alaskan Husky. Siberians are not bred for endurance but for strength. The Alaskan Husky is a mixture of Siberian Husky and many other dog species. The Alaskan dogs are very slim but have well defined muscles, especially in the back legs and shoulders. They have been bred for endurance. To me they look like small greyhounds.

Believe it or not, an Alaskan Husky eats 10k calories a day!!!  They are definitely elite athletes.

This is a photo of the front of the hotel we are staying at:

Here we are on our tour to the mountain. We stopped at a lookout.

Skagway Again

While on the cruise we visited this quaint small town (had 1 day) . The population is 1,000 and the down town area consists of 10 blocks long by 4 blocks wide.

We went on our dog mushers tour and want an absolute adventure that was from the moment we were picked up to the moment we got back.

A bus collected us in town and delivered us to a few streets behind where the ships dock and we hopped on another bus for the 30 minute ride to the dogs. Along the way the driver gave us lots of commentary and we got to see another part of Skagway. The road was partly made mostly gravel.

Once we got to the top of the mountain I couldn't believe my eyes, right there in front of us is this beautiful Delta, and there was many, many wild purple Iris plants growing. Made our way long the two boarded wooden pathway ( it is very wet and muddy) and into the main section of the complex that consisted of toilets, kennels with puppy's an area with displays of the sleds used in this years Iditarod and a gift shop.

To get to the dogs we hopped on a Unimog, it is a multi purpose 4 wheel drive, and believe me it was needed to get further up the mountain, finally there and the dogs start barking with excitement. Into our summer sled we get ( can take 6 people) and mush we are off. It was a great ride, at one corner the musher yelled out hold on and we took a corner really a fast, I loved it.


At the completion of the ride, we got to say hello to every dog ( it was a bit difficult getting me away) , the. Back down the mountain on the Unimog to meet the puppies.


The little girl I got to cuddle was 4 weeks old and she had 2 bright blue eyes. After that I got to touch a tiny 2 day old puppy, what a treat!

Goodbye Juneau

On our last day we went for a small trip across to Douglas Island. Sounds like a far off land but it isn't, just across the bridge and we are there. Douglas Island is another suburb of Juneau and has lots of families living there.

There was some fun family activities and picnics happening on our visit, I really felt a part of the community.

There are no roads going in or out of Juneau so you have to fly or go on the marine highway. We chose the marine highway and got a ferry. It carries cars, motor homes, boats and people, similar to the Tasmania ferry. It took about 6 hours to get to our destination of Skagway. The trip was pleasant, smooth sea and the fact you can wonder around was good. They even have a movie theatre on board.

Looking forward to Skagway, it is where we do our Alaskan Husky ride.

Juneau 3

This is a photo of the old guy playing the piano. It is a little blurred but you get the idea.

More photos of residences around Juneau.

Juneau 2

What a busy day we have had, and it has been warm and sunny. After we checked out Walmart and Fred Meyers shopping mall came back into town and decided to go to a little out of the way cafe about 40 minutes walk. Unfortunately it closes at 2.00pm we got there about 3.00pm.

Oh he who loves climbing up hills and steps said lets go and see the Governors residence, it's not very far.  Yes you guessed, it was up hill but you had to go up steps. I counted about 100, and as  my hips and knees are gasping in pain , all he can say is nearly there!  Finally got to the very last step and I am thinking lucky me my knees and hips are still working, then he tells me it is just up this short hill!!!!

All I could say to him was it better be worth looking at!  It was and so was the surrounding houses and suburb. We got yet another perspective on Juneau.

 
                                                          Governors Residence

Greg at the front door of residence

By the time we walked back to town it was about 5.00pm and both of us were very dry. Greg suggested we have a beer at the Red Dog Saloon. The place was packed, we had to go upstairs to get a seat. There is a "mature " Man singing and playing the piano, bowler hat, braces, garters on the sleeves, I felt likeI was back in the1890's. Anyway, he obviously had the crowd geared up for the next people to walk up the stairs.  This is how it went:

Piano player..... Oh we have some we customers, where are you from?

Audience.............Who cares (very loud and all together)

Piano player: what's your names?

Audience..............who cares. (Even louder)

The piano player says something else but by that stage I didn't catch it and hurried to our seat. He was very entertaining with his jokes and made up words to songs. We enjoyed it so much we stayed for a second beer and had dinner. It was a lot of fun.

Juneau 2

Juneau

Here we are in the capital of Alaska and the e third largest city behind Anchorage and Fairbanks. We did stop here on our cruise, but it is only for 1 day and being such a large place, popuLation 32,000 , we decided there must be more to discover.

We went on a whale watch today and saw 3 whales. None of them breeched but we did see them flipping up their tails. I learnt something new about these mammals, whales are identified by their tails, every tail is different like our finger prints, isn't that interesting.

We discovered where the locals hang out. There is a Walmart and 2 malls about 30 minutes out of town. We have found out there is a local bus that takes you to these places so we intend hopping on it tomorrow.

Our hotel is very nice and in an excellent location so easy to get around. We found an "out of the way" cafe and  had something to eat. I have gone mad on chowder,  never had it until I got to Alaska, for some reason it never appealed to me...........does now, I love it.

In our travels today we came across a picture theatre( small one) it has a matinee movie each day. We had a look at what was playing but nothing grabbed our interest so we will just have to watch the Turner Classic Movies in the room.

Seward (2)

 Feeding the Puffins

The aquarium has a giant octopus and a big seal who,is about 6 foot tall and 500 lbs. when he finishes growing his length will be nearly 9 feet and well over 1,000 lbs. he is a BIG baby.

Seward

Seward is a beautiful little seaside town about 4 hours by train from Anchorage. It is unique because it not only has the sea but is also surrounded by mountains. Travelling to Seward we saw a little baby moose. Ever so cute

The town people are very laid back and as is every Alaskan we have come across very friendly and go out of their way to be helpful.

                                             

The best and most well known attraction here is the aquarium . Prior to the oil spill in 1989 there was no facility to assist/rescue marine a animals. When the oil spill occurred it was obvious something was urgently needed. The town applied for and received a grant and the rest is history. 

I saw fish that only a mother could love and some beautiful Alaskan birds. These birds fly under water, yes I said fly, I saw it with my own eyes. Greg and I did a behind the scenes tour to learn about Puffin birds which included going into their enclosure and feeding them.

Odyssey (4)

Photos of Barrow

Odyssey (3)

The trip was hard but worth the experience. Our pilot was a retired airforce pilot, he was great and it was obvious the experience he had.

We learnt all about the "Tundra" and "Perma Ice". We saw sights and went to places that not many people have the opportunity to visit and I know more about the native Indians than I ever envisioned.

 

Even though you know the oil pipe is 800 miles long, it doesn't register until you travel along side it for 2 days. It is an amazing engineering accomplishment. It is primarily above ground because of the Perma ice and where possible it goes under ground. It has been built to withstand earthquakes and also not to freeze up during winter. 

This is Wiseman.Plane parked in yard.

Odyssey Tour (2)

Cold Foot - Deadhorse - Barrow
The tour to Barrow was drive up and fly back. Sounds easy........ Well not when you have a cold and every muscle in your body is aching!

Lucky for us there was only 6 tourists to fit into the van, so that meant 2 people to each bench seat that would normally have taken 3 people to each bench seat. Now that would have been very squishy.

To get to our destination, we travelled on the Dalton Highway. This has been built specifically for trucks travelling to and from the oil fields. Most of it is gravel with lots of pot holes. At one point we hit a hole so hard I thought I saw my kidney travelling behind us.

This is real wilderness. After driving for about 10 hours on the road we arrived at Coldfoot. This is not a town, it is a travel stop primarily for the truck drivers to stay overnight. However, more tourists are going to Barrow so they also use these facilities to stay and have a meal. The buildings are old site huts left over from when the pipeline was being built. The room was clean and the shower hot. Nothing special about the food but it was hot and filling.

Left at about 7.00am the next morning. After a few hours driving we turned off the road and  stopped at a place called Wiseman, population 20. A guy named Jack gave us a talk about living in Wiseman. He has lived there all his life. He went to other parts of America but couldn't handle the crowds or the fences ( no fencing in Alaska).

The people living in Wiseman have to love it. Living there is not easy. They do hunting in summer to ensure they have enough food for the long winter months. There are no shops, the closest town is Fairbanks and that takes a full day driving and costs bout $500 by the time he pays for petrol and an overnight room. Like most people in Alaska, Jack has a small plane, but the engine needs to be overhauled and he does not have the money at this point of time.

Back on the road again, some of the scenery is magnificent, miles and miles of wilderness. We came across a truck that rolled off the dirt road. The cab was very damaged. Emergency workers from one of the pipeline maintenance bases were on the scene, hopefully the driver was ok.

We crossed the arctic circle and finally got to Deadhorse (12 hours on the road), our over night stop. Once again this is not a town, the buildings are site huts left behind when the oil line was built. The mud and slosh is very deep. Both of us have become accustomed to such conditions and take itin our stride, we are glad to have a dry warm place to stay. The average temperature here is -11 Celsius.

Both Greg and myself are very excited about flying to Barrow the next day (yes, I have even become accustomed to flying on these little machines with propellers). We made sure we were well rugged up, eg I had 2 pairs track suit pants and a pair of wind proof/ waterproof pants on, 3 very warm tops and a water proof jacket, gloves, scarf, beanie.

It was bloody freezing, even with all my extra clothing on. Our guide, who says he doesn't like it when the temperature gets up to about 8 degrees Celsius because it is too hot, said he thought it was a pleasant day and was laughing at our suffering the whole time. Because he is anti e, he hS permission to hunt whales to provide food for the community, thank goodness nobody offered me anything to eat!

Barrow does not have made roads or footpaths and their homes are not well maintained. There are old cars and car parts scattered all over town on the side of the road and in the front and back yards of houses. Anyway, the people who live here are happy so I suppose that is all that matters. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Time to fly back to Deadhorse and pick up 2 more passengers for the flight back to Fairbanks.

Odyssey Tour

Here we back in civilisation again. The tour was good and very informative. The last 3 days took us up the Dalton Highway and finally into Barrow . It was the toughest 3 days ever!

The start of the tour took us on a 4 hour bus ride from Anchorage to Denalli. Here we stayed at the Denali Bluffs Resort. The tiny town of Denali has about 30 small businesses, primarily consisting of tours, eateries and gift shops. We checked them all out on our first day.

The following day we went  on a 7 hour tour of Denali National Park. The place is HUGE , about 8 million acres and has bears, carabou, mousse mountain sheep etc etc.

Apparently we were very fortunate because we could see Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in Alaska, about 22,000 feet. The temperature is -148 degrees , it is usually covered with cloud

From Denali we caught the train to Fairbanks and stayed at a lovely resort that had individual cabins, very comfy. In Fairbanks we did a city tour for 4 hours then in the afternoon went on a Paddle boat "the Discovery 3" we stopped along the way and went into an Indian village and had information given to us by native descendents. The Americans certainly know how to make the most of a tour.

Cold foot - Deadhorse -  Barrow

Anchorage - last day

We saw photos of the big earth quake that occurred here in 1964. The tsunami that followed killed more people than the quake itself and registered 9.2 . It was the second largest earthquake recorded, the first being in Chile in 1989, it registered 9.4.

Had a real good 1.0 hr guided trip on a trolley thru the  outskirts of  Anchorage. Our guide was a retired school teacher. He told us lots of stories about the earthquake, high schools, different suburbs and the price of houses as well as a commendation on small planes, (he is a pilot) and what families do during different months of the year. During our tour we spotted a moose and her baby twins in the woods...that was a real treat. The guy who owns the trolley company looks about 13 ( he was selling tickets) apparently he has become a multi millionaire and just spent $350k on a new trolley that accommodates wheelchairs. Our guide said he is a very hard worker and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Oh, did I mention he is single?

We begin our 10 day tour heading south to the Arctic Circle in the morning. There are many places that don't have wifi , so no posts for a while.

We are both looking forward to this tour, I have read it can be a bit on the rugged side and has very basic accommodation.