We left our room at 7:00 to go to breakfast at the lodge. It was really good and the service was the best! We had scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese, potatoes and fruit. We had to meet a group to go to the Husky Homestead Tour, the home of Jeff King, the 4-time Iditarod champion at 8:20. When we got off the bus, we were greeted by some 4-week old puppies! They were so cute and cuddly!
This is the puppy we got to hold.
This is Jeff King playing with one of his dogs.
The people encouraged us to pet the dogs and play with them. The dogs need a lot of attention. The older dogs were chained to their houses. This is how all sled dogs are kept. They all get plenty of exercise and lots of attention from visitors and the staff. Then they chose a few of the dogs to hook up to a four-wheeler to show us how they're trained during the summer. When they start choosing which dogs to hook up, all of the dogs go crazy - jumping and barking. They all want to go! Alaskan Huskies are meant to run and that's all they want to do. Jeff talked to us a little and then someone else took over and explained about the dogs outside, how they train, etc. From the beginning, the dogs are not fed individually; they eat as a group. It teaches them to eat fast for when they are out. The dogs don't eat as much in the summer but by the time training is over and they are ready to race the Iditarod in March, they are fed 90,000 calories a day! I've forgotten what the other increments are leading up to the race. A guy brought a couple dogs past all of us while the talk was going on and let us pet them.
We moved inside a building there and Jeff talked to us about the Iditarod race, how he prepares and experiences he's had. The racers make up packs that are about 100 pounds each and one is shipped to each check-in point along the trail. The pack includes straw to make beds for the dogs, food for the dogs and himself and any other necessities. Each racer is allowed to bring 16 dogs maximum for their team. There is no minimum. Once the race starts, most teams will run for 6 hours and rest for 6 hours. Since these dogs live to run, he said it is hard once they stop and get the dogs to settle down. First thing he does it put out straw for beds and then rubs down each dog and rubs their feet and checks for any injuries. The dogs are fed and he has a contraption that he heats up and will melt snow for water for himself and the dogs. It takes him 4.5 hours to do all this and that leaves him 1.5 hours to sleep. Then he gets up and starts all over again. He usually finishes the race with 6 to 8 dogs. If one is injured or just not working out, he can airlift them back home from one of the checkpoints. He showed the outfit that he wears and talked about how he tries to keep warm.
The sleds weigh about 50 pounds and all sleds are a little different. He added a "seat" to his sled so he can sit part of the way. Last year there were 50 miles of the race where there was no snow and 50 miles of ice. Most of his dogs who race are males and none are white. He said one year he had a good, fast, female dog on his team that went into heat and that one was shipped home at the next stop since she was a distraction to the rest of the team!
Jeff's sled. He sits on the cooler and the pot for
melting snow is on the very back. He sleeps on the
front part of the sled or can also haul a dog who is
sick, injured or tired,
His talk ended way too soon for me! We bought his book and he had autographed it and wrote "to Conrad and Linda" in it. We loaded back up on the bus and headed back to the hotel. We saw our first moose on the way back and the bus driver stopped alongside the road for us to watch it. Of course, we were on the wrong side of the bus!
After lunch of Tomato Basil Soup and half of a turkey sandwich at the lodge, it was time to join our group for the Tundra Wilderness Tour through the park. The tours are done - on school buses that have seats like a tour bus - but it was still a school bus! It takes about 7 or 8 hours to make the round trip, depending on how much wildlife is seen.
Denali National Park is made up of 6 million acres and the home of Mt McKinley that is 20,320 feet tall, the tallest mountain in North America. There is only one road through the park and it is 92 miles to the end of it. Cars are only allowed on the first 15 miles. The reason is they want to keep the park as natural as possible. The animals who roam the park are not fenced in anyplace and there is no interaction between people and animals. When we saw animals along the road, the bus would stop and they asked that we be quiet and not disturb them. We were lucky that it was a bright sunny day and we saw one moose, lots of caribou, lots of dall sheep, about 12 grizzly bears, a red tail fox, ground squirrels, porcupine, and a couple golden eagles. Some buses will go the 62 miles one way like we did and never see any wildlife so we were really lucky. We didn't see the wolf but someone at a checkpoint had told our driver one had been spotted about 15 minutes before we came through. We came up behind a grizzly bear walking down the middle of the road and it is against the law to pass wildlife on the road. We followed it for about 15 minutes and then it moved off to the side of the road. Really neat!
Our bus
The first grizzly bears we saw.
A short video of the bear walking down the road.
Caribou resting
Red-tail fox
Dall sheep that were very close to the road - usually
they are way up on the mountains. The golden eagles
swoop in and pick up the lambs so many don't survive.
A couple things we learned: it takes 8 to 10 years for male dall sheep to get fully, curled horns. The horns on a female sheep are more prongy (is that a word?). Also, the golden eagle's wingspan is about 7 feet and they are about as tall as our heads when we're sitting down! We stopped at a place where the Toklat River and another river came together. The Toklat River is spring fed and very clear. The other river was glacier fed so it was cloudy.
The Toklat River is the one on the right. Cool, huh?
One of the rivers and the mountains in the park.
The road is gravel and VERY narrow in spots with lots of
tight turns.
Everywhere was absolutely beautiful!
In the park
There were about 3 places along the road that Mt McKinley is visible. Usually, the top part is covered with clouds. We thought we'd have a good chance because it was such a bright, sunny day. When we came by the first two spots, the clouds had moved in and covered the mountain. But, at the last stop, the clouds cleared and we were able to see the whole mountain! Only 30% of the visitors get to see the whole mountain.
Mount McKinley
It's so white that it looks like clouds but it really
is the mountain! You may have to enlarge the picture.
We didn't get back to the lodge until around 8:30. We ate dinner at the Sourdough Trading Company on the grounds of the lodge. We each had the Fish and Chips. The fish was halibut and was so good! Walked back to our room and were pretty worn out. Good night!
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