Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

I was going to add the photos and commentary from this wonderful adventure, to the blog entry I made earlier this afternoon, but decided that it deserved a write-up of its own.

I have lived in Alaska for almost 7 years, and the one thing I’ve always wanted to do, was go for a dog sled ride. Every year, I’d mention to my musher friend Jan DeNapoli, that I needed to come out to her kennel and go on one of her riding adventures, but time would get away from me, and the adventure never happened.

When I saw Jan and Georganne (a musher who works at Jan’s kennel) recently at Badger Den for an Alaska Living meet-up, I decided it was time to set something up and then DO IT.

Georganne was off for a few days over spring break, and offered to take me out on a sled ride this past Thursday. Before noon, we were out at Muzzy’s Place (Jan’s kennel), preparing for the ride.  Three teams, with sleds, would be going out - giving more than half of the kennel a nice workout for the day. Along with Georganne, our team was accompanied by Simone Schalk and her team of dogs, as well as Trey Ravencrest and her team.  Jan drove along with us on her snowmachine, so that she could take photos of me on my adventure.

There’s a lot of work that goes into getting the dogs ready to go for a run. First, Jan and the other mushers had to decide which dogs were going to be included on each team. Not all dogs run well together. It’s important to know their personalities, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, most dogs have specific positions that they do best in. For example, there are “lead dogs”, “swing dogs”, and “wheel dogs”.

Lead dogs, are just as the title suggests; leaders. Lead dogs steer the rest of the team and set the pace. Leaders may be single or double, but most mushers have double lead dogs. Qualities for a good lead dog are intelligence, initiative, common sense, and the ability to find a trail in bad conditions.

Swing dogs are are directly behind the leaders. They swing the rest of the team behind them in turns or curves on the trail. They can be further identified as right or left swing depending on which side of the tow line they are positioned on.

Wheel dogs are those nearest the sled, and a good wheeler must have a relatively calm temperament so as not to be startled by the sled moving just behind it. Strength, steadiness, and ability to help guide the sled around tight curves are qualities valued in “wheelers.” Their job is to pull the sled out and around corners or trees.

The rest of the dogs are referred to as team dogs. They add power to the team. A small team may not have dogs in this position. Alternately, the term may be used to describe any dog in a dog team.

Here are photos of Jan’s dogs. The team of dogs who pulled the sled I was on are Teela and Riyah as lead, Mojo and Foxie as swing, Sarek and Ace as team dogs, and Khill and Beaver as wheel.

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ICE ART CHAMPIONSHIPS

We returned home from NC/GA/WA just in time to see the multi-block ice sculptures on display at the ice park. I had errands to run last Friday, so I stopped by the ice park to watch the progress of the artists. It was a beautiful day to wander through the park, and I spent a good amount of time in the multi-block aisles, watching the heavy equipment moving big ice pieces into position.  Most of the sculptures were still surrounded by scaffolding, and the artists were hard at work to meet the deadline at 9pm that evening.  The awards ceremony was held the following evening.

My friend Lori and I returned to the park later that evening, to see the sculptures under the colored lights.  It was a good night for a walk through the park, with a comfortable above-zero temperature. I didn’t even have to wear my hat or gloves (although some of you in the Lower 48 would have thought me nuts).

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(Part One is here)

(Part Two is here)

The flight from Atlanta to Seattle was long, but at least we were comfortable. I requested a digi-player, so I could watch a movie to pass the time. I was finally able to view “The Blind Side“, which was quite good. I also watched the movie “Arranged” - which I also enjoyed. (On the trip out to Atlanta from Seattle, I watched the movie “Water“, a poignant film with the most amazing scenes. Throughout the movie, I was taking photographs in my head. It was truly a treat for the eyes - at least this photographer’s eyes.)

We landed in Seattle at 9:45pm. By the time we collected our luggage it was close to 10. We had a reservation at the Best Western Airport Executel Hotel - a no frills hotel that suited our needs (and wallet) for the short time we’d be staying there.

We had a 22-hour layover in Seattle, which we planned so that we could spend several hours exploring the city. The Best Western had a free shuttle that carried us from the airport to the hotel, and then back to the airport the next morning. It also offered a breakfast buffet, but we didn’t have time to eat at the hotel, as we wanted to take the Link Light Rail train to downtown Seattle as soon as we got ourselves up and dressed.

Steve was quite disappointed, however, that the breakfast buffet - which was supposed to last until 9am - was out of coffee (and creamer, and sugar, etc) at 8:15am, when he went down to get us some coffee. He had to ask the waitress to brew another pot, and then to find some sugar and creamer, and each time he made a request she rolled her eyes and huffed and puffed. Not exactly professional.

Before getting on the shuttle back to the airport, Steve called the USO at SEATAC airport, to inquire as to whether we could stow our luggage there while sight-seeing in town. We were thrilled to find out that we could (free of charge to military personnel), because there are few alternatives at SEATAC for storing luggage. One option (Ken’s Baggage) is a pricey alternative if you’ve got quite a few bags (we had five, to include carry-on bags and Steve’s computer bag). The USO was a life-saver, and our bags were stowed in a secure closet and could not be removed without a claim ticket.

We then walked about 10 minutes (level 4 of the parking garage) to catch the Link Light Rail to downtown Seattle.  The opening of this station is a real plus, and makes exploring Seattle without having a rental car (or using a taxi) easy.

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