We got up early this morning and went into Denali to catch the sled dog demonstration. The sled dog kennels are only a few miles away from the visitors center, so the park takes a bus up three times a day to show visitors around. Denali has around 30 dogs that they keep in the park year round and although winter is their working season, they are still trained and kept in the park for visitors. We were able to pet the dogs and walk around the kennels.
At one point the kennel staff gathered everyone together and demonstrated how they hook the dogs up to the sleds. As soon as they brought the sled out, the dogs immediately knew what was happening, and they began jumping around and barking because they were so excited. The Alaskan huskies are built for hauling large loads, and each dog is able to pull 100 lbs. – which is actually a little bit more than some of them weigh. The dogs used in the park are around half of the size of the dogs in the annual Iditarod race. They are used in the park during the winter to create trails for cross country skiers and snowshoers because there are no motorized vehicles used in the park during the winter. All of the hauling is done by the dogs and rangers use sleds for transportation during the winter months.
During the presentation, I looked down the row of people and I actually saw one of my teachers! Ms. Pala teaches computer science classes at GPS and is also the head of the yearbook committee, so I work with her a lot during the school year! She was visiting with her fiancé and her sister, who lives in Kenai, AK.
Of all the places to see someone I know! It had been a running joke between my family that we would be surprised if we made it through this whole trip without running into someone from GPS or McCallie. After visiting with my teacher, we headed back to the RV to meet up with my grandparents.
We ate lunch in the RV, but then we were off on another adventure. This time, it was white water rafting! If I were to be totally honest, I was quite terrified of falling out of the raft. Not because I was afraid of the water, but rather the temperature of the water, which was a lovely 36 degrees. Luckily, the rafting company makes everyone wear dry suits when rafting so the trip was really enjoyable! The guide told us that the water we were rafting on was melted glacier water, and that it had been frozen only 12 hours before.
We ate lunch in the RV, but then we were off on another adventure. This time, it was white water rafting! If I were to be totally honest, I was quite terrified of falling out of the raft. Not because I was afraid of the water, but rather the temperature of the water, which was a lovely 36 degrees. Luckily, the rafting company makes everyone wear dry suits when rafting so the trip was really enjoyable! The guide told us that the water we were rafting on was melted glacier water, and that it had been frozen only 12 hours before.
Everyone had a blast on the trip and the rapids were so much fun! The river is called the Nenana River, named by the Athabaskan natives because nenana means “no river river”. The river does not contain any fish, so the natives did not consider it an actual body of water. The trip was a total of 11 miles downriver from where we are staying and it was the most fun thing we have done on the trip so far!
We cooked stewpacks in the dutch oven tonight and yet again, there wasn’t much left over! My dad has been wanting to do a hike in Denali while we are here, so we loaded back up in the Cranberry to go find a trail. Since my grandma joined us, we now have 6 people, so Zach crammed himself in the trunk of the Cranbery- and it’s a tight squeeze for a 6 ft tall boy! We drove in the first 15 miles into the park, until the gate was closed to public traffic. The view was absolutely incredible. It always amazes me how lush and green the landscape is, but just behind the mountains in the forefront are jagged, snow capped mountains.
We cooked stewpacks in the dutch oven tonight and yet again, there wasn’t much left over! My dad has been wanting to do a hike in Denali while we are here, so we loaded back up in the Cranberry to go find a trail. Since my grandma joined us, we now have 6 people, so Zach crammed himself in the trunk of the Cranbery- and it’s a tight squeeze for a 6 ft tall boy! We drove in the first 15 miles into the park, until the gate was closed to public traffic. The view was absolutely incredible. It always amazes me how lush and green the landscape is, but just behind the mountains in the forefront are jagged, snow capped mountains.
The hike was a short loop that followed along a creek. At the far end of the loop, Zach and I climbed up onto a hill to get a better view. There were rolling hills, so the landscape didn’t drop off how I thought it would, but the view was still awesome. Denali is beautiful, and I am so glad we got to spend a few days here!