This is the day we’ve all been waiting for, for 2 months. We need good weather today.
I woke up at 4:15am, not unusual for me on this trip and even occasionally at home too. BLAH
Debbie feels well enough to join us on this much anticipated adventure. YEAH! We have about an hour drive north and have pretty much been promised to see moose all along the drive, especially once we get off the highway.
Well, we made it, NO MOOSE! Do they really live here or is it a joke the Alaskans play on the tourists?
That’s okay…..we’re going to a glacier on a helicopter. Abby is a first timer for a helicopter. Maybe Debbie too – not sure.
We got our pilot to jump in. Yesterday was his first day flying. It was successful so we feel confident:) If anyone remembers his name, please let me know and I’ll post it. I’m thinking….Andy??
We are standing at the X labeled YOU ARE HERE and first flying to the smaller X (Colony Glacier), just over 4000 feet elevation, for dog sledding. Then we’ll be dropping down about 2000 feet to land on the icy part of Knik Glacier. We’re All Feeling Excited!
Co-Pilot is Ready
Can You Hear Me? Can You Hear Me Now? How Bout Now? Is Anyone Listening???
Hello Alaska, This Is Dr. Al. I’m Listening. NO WAY……He Never Listens!!!!
D & D are all set and mostly smiling:)
Lift-Off
Flying over the glacier
and up the mountain. It’s a remarkable view!
I try to imagine how it might look if it was a sunny day.
It starts to rain/sleet as we arrive at the dog camp on Colony Glacier. There are about 50 dogs who live here all summer – what a weird thing to say as it’s freezing here and very snow covered. The trainer and his granddaughter live here all the time with the dogs. They’ve been here just over a month. Not sure how they survive, it’s cold, it’s gray, limited food, no showers, nothing to do, it’s cold, no computers…….Oh My!
Our ride
Our new ride
Here We GO!
Riding the sled was a fun, unique, and cold experience. The dogs mostly stayed in line and only occasionally spoke. The mushers gave us ponchos to help with the moisture, but our faces were quite damp. I put my camera under my poncho and kept taking it out to shoot.
You can sit or stand. I did both. There are ‘built-in’ gloves to slip your hands into to hold onto the bar when you’re driving. The sled has a brake that you step on to slow the dogs down. Who knew you could hold on with one hand and take pictures and videos with the other.
Check out my YouTube Channel to see our sledding in action.
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=ifjf-39w0FQ
The dogs at this camp are Alaskan Huskies, which are usually a mix between Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. They are popular dogs for sled dog racing because of their endurance, good eating habits, speed, and dedication to running even when tired.
We met a local man who lives in Talkeetna year round and he has a team of dogs. He says they are easier to start than a snow machine. No one in this state uses the word snowmobile – interesting. He said his dogs like to stay outside until the temp hits below zero and then they come in and they like to get in his bed too. Imagine all those dogs in your bed with you!!!! OMG
This guy is actually very friendly. Don’t let the stone face fool you. Isn’t he beautiful?
He made a new friend right away. Can you believe he shoots Nikon? At least Nate didn’t hold it against him.
It’s time to say goodbye to the mushers and the dogs. We are dropping down, out of the snow and rain, to land on the glacier.
The lady who did our training demo, I think her name is Bridget, said that just a few years ago, the face of the glacier was very tall and so cool to see. A lot of it has melted.
Most of the top surface is not what I expected. It is jagged with a lot of deep blue crevasses. It’s just WOW!
We heard from several different people along the way about what causes the deep blue color. I’ve read several different explanations also and I’m still not really sure what the answer is.
A lot of dirt, sand, rocks…..also get mixed in over the years.
This is the blue pond we will visit in a few minutes. It’s really quite large.
We are landing on this flat dirty spot surrounded by some cool blue ice shapes.
Our landing spot on Knik Glacier.
A running stream.
The blue pond. Yes! The water really is that blue.
Abby wanted to bring her penguins so that they could sit on the ice – real glacier ice. Our pilot asked her if she knew that this was the wrong pole for penguins. We do, but she promised them a glacier last September when we booked this trip, so here they are.
Just magnificent!
Who will be the first to touch the water? It’s cold. Abby and I both have water bottles to fill.
Everyone wants to try the water. Al goes first. Remember my earlier comment about being married to Doug Heffernan?
Right there it is. Can you see it?
Then Abby
Then Dave, Debbie and then Me. I say to Debbie after she drinks, ‘What if you’re contagious?’ ‘I’m Not’ she says. ‘What if you are?’ ‘I’m not. The doctor says I’m not.’ ‘The doctor doesn’t even know what you have. What if you are?’
I drank the water anyway. It’s good. Very smooth and crisp.
I went to the helicopter to get my own bottle and fill it. I drank the most glacier water – more than a full bottle. Abby drank almost a full bottle. Everyone else had just 1 drink.
Here’s my YouTube video at the glacier:
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=qqR7I9TPM6M
It may not look like it, but Dave is photobombing!
So sad. It’s time to go already.
Not sure what we were looking at, but it looked cool. The orange at the bottom left is my jacket reflecting in the window.
Almost back to YOU ARE HERE.
We highly recommend Anchorage Helicopter Tours. They were friendly, knowledgable, professional and fun and our pilot has been flying for about 11 years.
We headed back to Anchorage and stopped at the downtown festival to shop and have a bite for lunch.
The food was okay, except for Abby’s ring of potatoes. They were really good!
After days of searching for wildlife and specifically a moose, with no reward, we drove to Girdwood for guaranteed sightings.
Along the way, Dave announced that he too was sick. Oh No! Maybe she really is contagious!!!
This is considered America’s most scenic highway.
This is the route our train took also.
WOW! A Moose – up close and personal!
How to scratch yourself if you’re a moose.
Black Bear
Brown Bear…..so much larger than the black bear.
Also known as the Grizzly.
It’s almost like he’s posing.
Bear Tracks
Reindeer also called Caribou
Bison with their babies
We returned to Anchorage. Debbie and Dave weren’t feeling like dinner, so we returned to our wonderful place, Glacier Brewhouse – another hour and 45 minute wait. We tried the bar again and got lucky with a table within just a few minutes. All was great again – one final bread pudding before we head home.
We have an 8:30pm flight and D & D don’t leave until 1am. They are thinking of spending another night in Anchorage since they are both feeling so bad.
A FINAL GOODNIGHT ALASKA!
For more images from Vancouver and Alaska, visit my facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/GanleyPhotography/photos/?tab=albums
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Alaska & Vancouver 