Day at the Zoo

Posted on July 7, 2013July 7, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s the last day in Alaska and I’m so glad we are spending it at the Zoo. I love zoos. I even went to the zoo in Hawaii.

So we arrived via the Zoo shuttle right to the entrance. When it’s time to leave the shuttle will pick us up right in the parking lot. There’s even a little bench to sit on while we wait.

We bought our tickets and picked up our maps and followed a family of rambunctious little ones onto the paths. The paths cross crossed and meandered so we picked the “must see” animals and figured we’d go there first. Grizzlies were on that list but they were also on the far side of the zoo.

There was a little deer in an exhibit that was just full of mischief. A Maintenance worker was repairing the enclosure and she just followed him everywhere trying to chew on his pants. When he finally shooed her away she took off to pick on a poor , abused looking turkey that shared her enclosure.

The tiger was sleeping and wasn’t going to move for anyone.

The wolves were pretty riled up. They paced along the fence line. A family with very young children were watching. The wolves seemed to be fixed on the kids. Did they think they were prey? A snack? The kids started making howling sounds and the pack joined in.

Once the family moved on the pack dispersed back into the trees in their habitat.

We saw a snowy owl, one of the birds that winters in MA and that I am still trying to get a photo of in the wild.

There was a beautiful bald eagle. They are so majestic that it always makes me feel bad when I see them in captivity. On the other hand many of the captive eagles were injured and couldn’t be rehabilitated enough to survive in the wild. I guess being captive is better than the alternative.

We passed the black bear, a moose hiding in the shadows, and a pretty little red fox snoozing in the sun.

We got a close up look at the caribou.

We crossed a bridge over a pond and watched the swan whose very presence owned the pond. I’m not a “birder” but I think it was a Trumpeter Swan. We have “Mute” Swans around home and it wasn’t that. The bill was black while the Mute Swans have yellow bills and a black eye ridge.

Silly me spotted a squirrel and the picture I got of him is one of my favorites.

There was a good exhibit of the Dall Sheep so we finally got to see this elusive animal up close.

Finally we spotted the grizzly bear enclosure. They weren’t cooperating any more than the wild ones. One was sprawled in the brook in the shade down in a corner of the enclosure. No good angle for a picture. The other one was in a hollow taking a nap. His big foot and an ear about all that could be seen.

By now we’d spent more than an hour so we needed to hustle back to catch the shuttle. We passed the otters and stopped for a minute at the Polar Bears.

We skipped the musk ox and probably a few other animals but time was now of the essence. It was harder to find our way out of the zoo than in!

Finally the exit and timing was perfect. The shuttle was pulled up and waiting.

One more Lodge

Posted on July 2, 2013July 2, 2013 by Dusty Roads

After our exciting evening of dog sledding (I really did have a great time and would do this again) we all climbed back on board the bus to retrace our steps. We dropped off our young guides back at the trappers exhibit and returned to the lodge just in time to stop by the Base Camp Bar and Grill for a late dinner.

Then it was back to the room to pack up our bags again. This time they needed to be left out by 7 am . It was too cold to leave them out overnight. The staff would pick them up and they would be delivered to our room at our next stop, McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. We’d be spending 1 night there before heading back to Anchorage.

We could have squeezed in an early morning tour, quite a few people did, but we just relaxed with a leisurely breakfast and some souvenir shopping.

The bus rolled up right at 11 am. As before the driver checked off our names and gave us a packet with a room key and map of the grounds. Then we were on the road again.

At least the weather was better than when we were cruising. The sun was out and we settled back to enjoy the scenery. This bus driver was talking with another driver that had pulled out ahead of us and was now was maybe 5 miles in front.

In Cantwell, Alaska you can stop and see this strange construction, a now abandoned 4 story igloo shaped hotel. We just drove by. The driver said it had been abandoned because it was an environmental hazard…asbestos or something.

We watched the mountains pass and the landscape change to tundra again.

We passed a herd of caribou then the radio crackled to life.

There was a grizzly bear chasing a moose along side the highway. The driver gave us a mile marker and everyone sat up and started watching. Unfortunately the mile marker came and went and we never saw any sign of the bear or the moose. Everyone settled back down.

A bit farther along the passengers in the front of the bus got very excited. By pressing my face tight to the window I could just make out why. There was a moose running along the side of the road with the traffic! I couldn’t get a picture from that angle but I got ready just in case and it paid off.

Just as my window approached the moose, he decided to leave the road and bolted up the bank. Wonder of wonders, I caught his scramble even though the window glass!

Not long after the moose sighting we pulled into the new lodge.

It was lunch time so we dropped our carry-on’s in the room and made a bee line for the restaurant. Apparently several buses had come in at the same time so we had quite a long wait but finally we were seated right by the kitchen.

An order of chicken fingers made everything right again. 🙂 When my tummy’s not happy, I’m not happy.

Now fed, we had the whole afternoon to explore. There was a show in the movie theatre we wanted to see about the Aurora Borealis but we’d missed the mid-day showing and the next wasn’t until the evening. There was another about Alaska so we went to that instead. It was a series of photographs in slideshow format set to music. It was beautiful and worth spending the time to see. It even included some shots of the northern lights so maybe we could skip the other movie.

Will the Real Sled Dog Please Stand Up?

Posted on July 1, 2013July 1, 2013 by Dusty Roads

After our “wild” ride on the 4-wheeled dog sled, we were invited into the musher’s camp to learn about the dogs, the equipment and the Iditarod.

I have to confess, I don’t remember the musher’s name but he said he had won the Iditarod and another big race several times. He told us great stories about his experiences. One that stands out is a story of crossing the sea ice on one race during a blizzard. He couldn’t see anything and thought they were going in the wrong direction. They went on for hours when suddenly the marker came into view through the blowing snow. The lead dogs had guided him and the team safely to the marker. The moral of the story… have good lead dogs and trust them!

His dogs and most of the dogs used for racing are not the purebred huskies and malamutes we see in the movies.

There are some but according to our speaker they don’t have the stamina for the endurance races.

He breeds all of his own dogs. They are chosen for size, strength and stamina, speed and endurance so most of his dogs are mongrels.

A few of the most common sled dogs that almost everyone has heard about and the ones most likely to have made it into the movies are the Alaskan Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and Siberian Husky.

The Alaskan Husky is actually a mongrel bred specifically for its performance as a sled dog. They weigh between 40 and 75 pounds and may have dense or sleek fur.

Alaska Malamutes are large, strong freight-type dogs. They weigh between 80 and 120 pounds and have round faces with soft features. These dogs are known for their broad chests, thick coats, and tough feet. Speed has little to no value for these dogs – instead, the emphasis is on pulling strength.

Siberian Huskies are smaller than the similar-appearing Malamute. The Siberian Husky pulls more, pound for pound, than a malamute, but cannot pull as long. They weigh between 40 and 60 pounds, and have been selectively bred for both appearance and pulling ability.

There are even more breeds that have been developed including one that was developed not in Alaska but in New Hampshire! I guess the bottom line is that a sled dog can be any dog regardless of heritage, that has the strength and spirit to pull a sled.

When asked why there were signs not to pet the adult dogs he said they are working dogs, not pets and in their excitement to get ready to run, they could accidently bite a stranger. No one wants anyone to get hurt. I guess these aren’t “dog whisperer” type dogs. 🙂

Puppies and Mush

Posted on June 30, 2013June 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

We stepped off the bus to pandemonium! Barking, squirming dogs everywhere it seemed but they were actually under control…sort of. You see this wild eyed, happy, manic look on the face of the dog on this card…yup we were surrounded by dogs with the same expression. The handlers, excuse me , “Mushers” said the dogs just love to run. They get excited when they hear a car or bus come down the road because they know they will be hitched up and off to do their favorite thing.

While the mushers wrangled the adults into the harness we were led to another pen to see the “puppies”. Now I use the word puppies loosely because I was expecting little balls of fluff. Even when they said they were 11 weeks old I wasn’t prepared for how big they were. Before I knew what was happening or even got close enough for a look a 25 lb. bundle of energy was plopped into my arms. I heard someone say this little girl is Emma and then they were gone. What a cutie.

Sandy had another similar sized pup in her arms.

It took all of my concentration to be sure mine didn’t wiggle out of my arms and get away. I’m sure it happens sometimes with these energetic balls of fur but I didn’t want it to be on my watch! Eventually one of the employees asked me if I’d had my turn on the dog sled ride. When I said no, he told me to go get on but made no move to relieve me of Emma.

After I asked about 3 times what he wanted me to do with the puppy it seemed to get through to him. With an “Oh! Yeah.” He scooped Emma up and pointed me toward a really strange contraption.

This monster had a sturdy metal frame, rubber tires and 3 bench seats that had been rescued from some old junk cars. It even had a roof and a front windshield of scratched Plexiglas. It looked awful heavy for a bunch of dogs to pull.

I grabbed the front seat. In spite of the scratches I wanted to be up front where I could see what our dogs were doing. Our young lady Alaskan was our musher and hopped on the back just as if this were one of the light weight dog sleds. With just a word the dogs were off with us right behind. They got us going pretty fast too until one of the dogs decided he wanted a break for some snow from the snow bank. That brought the whole line to a halt while he broke formation for his little snack.

Lady Musher got down and untangled the traces and got them all lined back up. Before she had time to even get back on the rig our little trouble maker was rolling in the dirt and getting everyone tangled up again. Back to the mess our intrepid musher went and, in her words, had a little talk with him.

This time when he was straighten out he stayed in line and we were on our way again.

We went around one last corner and there was the camp where we started. It was a short ride but it was fun.

The dogs in the front are the lead dogs and he ones in the rear are the steering dogs. They are the strongest dogs on the team. They get you out of that snow bank if you get stuck. Even through the Plexiglas window it was easy to see they were having fun and so was I! 🙂

Time for a little TLV (Tour, Lunch. Visitor Center)

Posted on June 28, 2013June 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

So far the tour had been ok. I had hoped we’d see more animals. We’d scoured the mountainsides for Dall Sheep but there weren’t any around. No bears either even at a distance.

We did see a couple more moose and then some caribou.

The guide finally addressed the issue of gulls in the middle of Alaska.

They are called Mew Gulls. And according to him they migrate here to nest. They usually build their nests in trees or even on the ground as long as they are near water. Each time I/we saw them there was a river or pond nearby.

We even got back to the lodge in time for lunch.

Thinking we might be able to save a couple of dollars (or a few pennies) we went to the Base Camp restaurant next to the King Salmon. Turns out they are really the same restaurant just different names. I didn’t quite get the logic there. They share the kitchen, the menu is the same and so are the prices.

Both Sandy and I ordered the fish and chips. It was so good. Not cheap (or inexpensive) but worth every penny.

Then we wandered through the souvenir shops before heading to the shuttle for a trip to the Visitor Center.

After all, I had to get my National Parks Passport Stamped because who knows when I’ll ever get back to Denali again.

The Visitor Center was awesome. There was a small museum nearby that we never even got to go to because the displays in the Center were so good. I got my passport stamped and then we explored the exhibits.

We saw more animals in the Visitor Center displays than we’d seen the whole trip. There were dioramas of Moose

and bear

and wolves.

The Dall sheep looked magnificent.

The Golden eagle was caught in the act of snatching it’s dinner.

The conservation message was clear. Even the smallest things can make a big difference even tipping the balance of nature. I couldn’t help but think of the endangered Piping Plovers back home.

The Athabaskans, the First People, understood this and still respect the delicate balance of man and nature today.

Finally one of my favorite posters…Dogs Don’t Run Out of Gas…I loved that and it was a reminder that we needed to catch the shuttle back because we were going dog sledding this evening.