Friday 29 May 2015

Helicopter ride from Juneau,Alaska, to see the glaciers

I am quite excited about the helicopter ride we are about to take,  we fly from a helicopter pad just outside Juneau, the capital city of Alaska.  I haven't been in a helicopter before. Rob has.  It's a clear day, great for flying.  The ride is FANTASTIC!  Seeing the glaciers from the air is hard to describe.


It's a small helicopter, takes the pilot, another in the front, and three behind. 


We all wear headphones, so we can speak to each other.


Robs "co-pilot" with the best view.  It's really scary lifting off,  but I soon get used to it, and LOVE the views.




So exciting to fly close to the mountain capped peaks.


It's different to see the mountains and snow looking down at them..


The first glacier we fly over is Taku, (named by the Tlingit people, the indigenous people of Alaska) it's gathered up dirt as it moves, so looks quite dirty.. Taku is the deepest and thickest known glacier in the world..... It's roughly 1,500 Meters deep and 60 kilometers long. We are surprised by how ridged the snow is, and also how the side of the cliffs get scoured by the movement and pressure of the ice.





We fly to the edge of the glacier, the thickness of the ice is astonishing.


A chunk of ice had broken off the Glacier ( ice calving) showing the blue ice caused by the ice being compacted. The "calf" is about three storeys high, gives an idea of the enormous amount of ice.


We plan to explore Juneau later... More pics tomorrow.











Dog sledding on Norris Glacier

It's a 30 minute winter wonderland ride in a  helicopter ride to Norris Glacier, and dog sledding/ mushing is a definite  bucket list .... I am super excited, and so is Rob.  It's the highlight of our trip!
I can't keep the smile off my face...



Both of us can't believe we are in the middle of Alaska, on a glacier in the middle of this incredibly beautiful land of snow and ice, Alaska  bought by the USA from Russia for 7.2 million $!!!!


This is taken from the helicopter as we are arriving at the  camp... I am astonished.. There is NOTHING, WHITENESS only! Just a few tents and masses of small white  "igloos"... It's vast whiteness is almost bewildering and hard to take in... And this is Spring, not Winter!


Getting closer, as we hover to land... Will the helicopter slide?


Right! We landed safely... ( would have gone out with a smile on my face if not)


The "igloo" shapes turn out to be dog kennels for the 193 dogs on the glacier in this camp.  The dogs are incredibly well taken care of, and the people who own them are passionate about their dogs.  When they do the long races, the mushers( people who give commands to the dogs) even sleep with their dogs...these dogs get special food and great care.  


Our dogs that will pull our sled...


 Sam (Samantha ) is our musher.  She LOVES her dogs...


Rob stands behind me, in charge of the brake.. And off we go... The dogs are excited.  They love pulling the sleds, and the only reason they stop is because  Rob stands on the brake .



There is a serrated bar, and Rob stands on it  first with one foot and then the other, and the sled stops.  I have a turn to stand.  And Rob walks to sit down.


You can see one dog in the lead, her name is Simple, the lead dog sets the pace, and  listens for the commands from  the musher.  Simple is about 10 years old, and very experienced.


The Swing dogs  are the next dogs, they follow the lead dog, help to set the pace, and steer the sled around thecorners. 


Wheel dogs are directly behind the sled and are the strongest dogs, pulling the most weight.  Duke was our wheel dog..  I was worried about him because he kept pulling to the left into thick snow.  See below... And Rob has posted a short clip of our ride on fb.


The dogs love the snow, and whenever we stopped took advantage to play..like kids...


Another sled, gives an idea of the vastness of white...


This is what I expected a sled dog to be, a blue eyed husky... And some are, even though they are smaller than most huskies we know in SA.


Simple, our lead dog, wearing booties to,protect her feet.  The dogs even get sun screen on their noses, and some get eye protection - the glare from the snow can be blinding...


The dogs love their pats and praise...


Duke was a surprise!  He doesn't look like a sled dog!  But Sam tells us that the blood lines are kept very pure , based on the dogs' strength, attitude to "working",  their capacity to eat ( consume calories) and a other traits.  Duke is strong, loves pulling and also loves the deep snow - a real character


Incredible dogs, that fascinate me... A giant lick.. And I leave part of my heart with the dogs...










Wednesday 27 May 2015

Skagway and the Train ride

We leave Skagway on Alaska's only railroad, White Pass and Yukon Rail, heading towards White Pass where around 100,000 people from all over the world flocked to after gold was discovered in 1896.  It's an incredible ride with evergreen alpine fir forests, crystal clear lakes, cliff hugging track, shining snow mountains.  
Ships brought in dreamers and schemers to the  new tent town—Skagway, Alaska. Skagway was the entry point to the White Pass, a gap over the mountains that led to the Yukon River and into the Klondike gold fields. 


The town retains its old world charm, today a town geared for tourists exploring 
Alaska.  This is the ice blaster used to clear the train tracks from heavy snow.





The vegetation is almost lush leaving Skagway.


Crystal clean rivers and streams.


A "trestle"  is built of wood for the train track over the streams..


The snow gets closer...


It took 30,000 men two years and tons of dynamite to blast through the granite rock to build the railway


The first bridge in the distance, used until the 50's....


Whew! Glad this isn't in use any more....


After the train ride we go to the Red Onion Saloon for a beer.  The girls/waitresses dress up traditionally.



On the way back to the Norwegian Sun for our next adventure, the helicopter ride and dog sledding.





Tuesday 26 May 2015

Snow shoe walking in Skagway, Alaska

Our first attempt to snow shoe walk - we have taken a train from Skagway, a gold mining village of Alaska, and dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Thank goodness for the hiking sticks... The snow is thick and quite often one of our party of 8 sink into the snow up to knee height and have to be dug out.. Hence Kurt, our leader with the shovel below...we have 5 hours in the wilderness.  It's a beautiful day, have had to put my down jacket in my rucksack!


The train stops in the middle of nowhere...


There's just a hut and we get given boots and snow shoes..


Rob mouthing wtf have I let myself in for....


Kurt with shovel, explaining how to walk with the shoes.  They have serrated teeth in the front of the shoes, the shoes slip on but are loose at the back so they are like large flip flops!  When you walk you have to kick your toes into the snow to grip, especially walking down or uphill.


The snow is thick and sparkles in the sun.  Kurt makes a ball of snow in his fist, and sprinkles a home-made sherbet on it, he invites us to do the same- it's delicious, and the snow is full of electrolytes, he tells us.  But the bees, yellow backs, also like the sherbert , and sting him.  Really painful for him - they are more like hornets.



The snow is really thick and soft in parts, so we walk single file, walking in Kurts shoeprints compresses the snow and makes it easier to walk.



Rob and some of our group snow walking.. The alpine firs are stunted in this heavily snowed area.


We stop at some rocks  for lunch and eat the sandwiches we made on the train.  After a couple of hours of walking, it's  great to sit!  Kurt tells us about the different lichens, including moose lichen, which the moose (obviously) eat.  They can even smell it and dig down to find it when the rocks are completely covered.


Walking on after lunch, we come to a slope, Kurt slides down, and invites us to do the same.



The Mexican couple (young) slide down first- with no fear!  Plucking up all my courage I slide down- and it's great fun, although scary, because by now the snow is glassy smooth, so sliding down is super fast.  Rob decides to slide down a less steep bit, but slides over a rock and lands up with ripped pants, and a huge bruise on his ....



The water is turquoise, so clear and we walk really carefully to avoid falling in.


This is the Klondike train we caught - it was built end of 1800's during the Yukon gold rush - more pics of the scenery from the train and Skagway next...