Seward is located on the Kenai Peninsula, a couple of hours south of Anchorage. We just had a couple of days to explore this area so we had to make decisions on what we wanted to see.
One of the debates I have had is whether I want to go on a sled dog tour. I have mixed emotions about it, but I decided that sled dogs are definitely a part of Alaska that is unique, and I have loosely followed the Iditarod race over the years, so I am interested in it.
The Iditarod is an annual race that runs from (near) Anchorage to Nome, some 1000 miles away. It takes about 9 days of travel to run the course, and that’s for the winner. The non-winners take longer. It’s an exhausting, sleep depriving race. No one is allowed to help the musher with the dogs, so they each have to care for the sled, themselves and all the dogs’ needs.
Each musher starts with 16 dogs, but many are dropped off along the way, for a variety of reasons. All dogs are examined by a vet at each checkpoint for any health issues that may have developed and some dogs just don’t like long distance running.
In 2013, at age 53, Mitch Seavey was the oldest person to win the Iditarod, and his son Dallas is the youngest ever to win- in 2012 he won at age 25. He won again in 2014.
The Seaveys use these summer sled dog tours to both condition and socialize their dogs. Since there is no snow here, the dogs pull a sled that has wheels on it.
Our guide talked about the history of the races, mushing in general and the dogs themselves. I would have sworn that Alaskan Husky was a breed of dog, but as it turns out, Siberian Husky is a breed, but Alaskan sled dogs are mutts. They are bred to
run. Any dog that doesn't love to run is not bred for these races. I think Paul and I got a little queasy at the thought only breeding dogs that want to spend all day running and nothing more.
One of the most famous dog sled trips, known as the Great Race of Mercy, took place in 1925 when an outbreak of diphtheria took place in Nome. It was winter, and no planes had ever flown that trip in the winter, so to get the needed serum there, 20 teams of mushers and over 100 dogs relayed the serum to Nome, each driving about 100 miles.
Once the history lesson was done, we moved on to the dog yard. As soon as we walked into the yard, the noise level intensified as the dogs all began shouting "pick me! Pick me!"
16 dogs were harnessed and away we went on our two mile trek. Of course, I expected to hear the word "mush" from the musher, but it turns out thats a myth. They actually say things like "alright" or “hike” to get the dogs moving. The dogs definitely understood the commands from the musher, even when they were told to turn right, or go straight etc.
After our short trip, they brought us over to meet the latest puppies. They were cute, but neither of us held one- we just watched as they were passed around.
I’m glad we did it, but now I can definitely file it under “been there, done that”.
It seems I can’t get enough of the wildlife adventures here in Alaska. Paul and I bought a coupon book before coming up here- its called the Alaska Tourbook-and its full of 2 for 1 offers.
One of the excursions we were interested in is in Seward. Its a wildlife boat tour, but the 2 for 1 deal is only good on their evening cruise. Since it stays light forever up here, that’s not a big deal. I particularly wanted to take this cruise because I know that a few days ago, they saw killer whales along the way, and seeing killer whales is still on my bucket list.
As we pulled away from the harbor, we enjoyed the All You Can Eat prime rib/baked salmon buffet. It was excellent.
It was a beautiful night, and we were using our new binoculars to check out the eagles and Steller sea lions along the shore, but I was just thinking that we weren’t going to see anything of real interest when the National Park ranger on board called out that there were humpback whales off in the distance.
The captain was able to approach closer so we could get a good look at them, and soon, something really awesome happened. We had heard about a phenomenon called Bubble Net Feeding, but it is rare to actually see it.
Bubble net feeding is when a pod of humpback whales work cooperatively to capture fish. They make a big circle under water, blowing out bubbles as they swim in a circle. The fish think that the bubbles are a net, so they stay in the middle.
The whales tighten the circle and work their way closer to the surface. You can tell where they will surface because the seagulls have figured out how this works and they are waiting for the whales.
The whales shoot straight up out of the water with their mouths wide open, gobbling up the fish.
This pod is just learning this behavior- transient whales have been teaching them how to do this, and both the captain and the park ranger had only seen this phenomenon twice before.
We watched them do it several times before they had had their fill. The boat was pretty rocky and the sun was shining so it was hard to get good shots of it.
So, even though we didn't see killer whales, the trip was certainly worth taking!
Having moved on from Seward, we are now sitting in Anchorage. For the first time since we left California, the camper is off the truck. That’s because Dozer and I are sitting in Anchorage but Paul is in California. He flew out Thursday morning at 1 AM to attend his nephew’s wedding on Saturday. I’m not fond of driving the truck, but it’s a lot easier for me if the camper isn't on it.
Dozer and I have been very busy since Paul left. We've done a bunch of cleaning and laundry…..and shopping.
I spent a whole day talking to my friends who are professional photographers, getting their opinion on cameras. I really like my camera for the most part, but it has some limitations.
As an example, with no view finder, I had no idea whether the whales I was shooting were actually in the frame or not. Same with the eagles. I have to guess, and hope my aim is accurate. The LCD screen is pretty much impossible to see in broad daylight. (see what a good job I am doing of justifying this purchase??). And my pictures of mountains! Really- they are so washed out because I can’t put a filter on this camera!
OK, enough justifying. The reality is, when originally I bought this camera, I almost bought a DSLR for the above reasons, but I ended up with my very nice Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS20 digital camera.
After a lot of discussion with my friends (thanks Carol and Wayne!!) I ordered a new camera. My Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 arrives on Monday and I am really looking forward to testing it out! It isn't really a DSLR, because to get a decent DSLR, I was looking at an investment of about $1400 and I just don’t take enough time playing with pictures to warrant that expense.
