Hello from Anchorage, Alaska. We are here for three nights before heading to Denali and Fairbanks. Previously we spent a week on the Kenai Peninsula in Seward and Homer. The last blog featured Seward, but I did not get to tell you about our trip to Godwin Glacier to see the sled dogs.
On Thursday, August 8th, we flew in a helicopter to Godwin Glacier where some of the Alaskan Huskies spend their summers. Several of these dogs are Iditarod huskies and it was very interesting to learn about this race and how they are trained. The trainers live with the dogs on the glacier.
We had to wear hip boots for the trip.
Our helicopter held a total of four people.
Roger is sitting up with the pilot.
A birds eye view of Godwin Glacier.
The dogs have their own houses on the glacier.
I am playing with the Husky puppies in their pen. The trainers want the dogs to become very familiar with people.
Our guide Grayson is getting the dogs ready to give us a ride.
Off we go!
The ride was great. Iditarod dogs are considered Ironmen athletes. They will race for eight hours at a time before a mandatory rest during the Iditarod. The entire course is 1,000 miles long.
Roger plays with a future Iditarod champ. The tents behind Roger house the trainers and supplies. Everything must be flown in and out from the glacier. What an incredible thrill to get to see the dogs on the glacier.
On Friday, we drove from Seward to Homer (still on the Kenai Peninsula). The ride was beautiful.
The view out of our front window, on The Spit in Homer. The tide is going out in the Cook Inlet.
Our second major excursion happened on Saturday. We wanted to participate in a bear viewing at Katmai National Park on the Alaskan Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island. This was an all day excursion and thanks to wonderful friends, we were able to leave our Bear for the day.
Hip boots are a must!
To get to the Katmai National Park, we had to take a ride in a float plane. Our pilot was also our bear guide.
Roger is ready to go!
The inside of the plane.
Incredible views of Homer as we head across Cook Inlet.
We landed on a small pond in the park with nothing near us except the bears.
Two planes landed in the pond forming a group of 20 people. We walked in our hip waders about a mile before we started seeing our first bears.
Roger is busy taking lots of pics.
The bear are spread out along the river fishing for sockeye salmon which were abundant.
We were that close to the bears.
What a thrill to see a sow with three (6 month old) Spring cubs.
We have traveled 3,476 miles and are on day 36 of our 60 day trip. Alaska continues to amaze and delight us. We feel so fortunate to see such a different area of our country. Thank you for reading the blog and joining our travels.
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