Intro page
Seattle
Juneau
Skagway
Tracy Arm Fjord
Prince Rupert, BC
Visions of the Sea
The shipped dropped anchor in the port at Juneau around 10:00. At 11:30 we assembled in the theater and waited for our group to be called. We eventually got on a tender boat that took us to shore. The tender is a power boat that carriers about 120 people. There we boarded a bus that took us to the Juneau airport. After watching a safety video, signing a release, and getting fitted with glacier boots, an eight-passenger Bell helicopter took us over the Mendenhall Glacier and landed us on the top of the ice field.
We were assigned to musher who gave us a lesson about sled-dogs. Apparently the dogs themselves choose the leader dogs. The leaders just naturally emerge from the pack. The lead dog also has to be a good listener. He or she listens for the command from the musher. We then got on the sled and took off. The musher was on the lead sled towing another sled where I stood and Mother sat. Since I was standing on the runners, my job was to hang on and step on the brakes as necessary. We spent about 45 minutes sledding over about 30 foot deep snow. The dogs love to run and the sled was pretty fast. Afterwards we thanked the dogs and took a tour of the dog camp.
