Skagway Sled Dogs

Today is puppy day! We get to go see sled dogs! We also got serenaded at breakfast.

But it had a bumpy start…The directions to the tour were difficult to understand. We ended up walking into town but ended up going back to the dock after speaking with the tourist center. So back we went and found the tour right outside the bloody ship. We checked in then were told our Real IDs weren’t gonna cut it. With 18 minutes before the tour would take off, I ran back onto the ship, back to our room, grabbed the passports and sprinted (not graceful) back to the check in. I made it and we were not the last to board.

Temperatures here can reach -94F lows in winter. We passed through three different biomes; temperate rainforest, tundra and Arctic tundra. Area pipes send water from top of mountain through hydro electric generators to run the entire town. There’s a no man’s land between US and Canada like the DMZ. We were required to show passports so I’m glad I got them when I did.

Rangers use lasers to plot the mountain and if they detect seismic activity everyone is warned immediately of earthquakes, land and rock slides and tsunami.

Our guide told us a lot about the history of the area. One interesting fact is that a bank robber blew himself up by accident when’s spark from his gun landed on the fuse of the dynamite he’d stick in his pocket. Afterwards when the damaged area was being replaced, they found gold flecks under the floor. So the robber actually made the bank money.

We saw a black bear Cub and learned bears love dandelions cause it gets them high. Drivers used hand signals to tell oncoming vehicles there’s wildlife ahead.

After a while we arrived at the Iditarod sled dog camp and saw…Puppies!! The woman who runs the training center won the Klondike Race this past year and finished fourth in the Iditarod. Part of our group actually mushed with the sleds.

Afterwards we visited the town again. Mom left her purse at the bookstore but we found it quickly. The evening entertainment was Broadway in the 80s.Читать далее