The day after Juneau, we docked in Skagway and since our planned excursion didn’t start until after lunch we decided to strike out on our own and check out the town. Skagway was the starting point for many of the gold seeking miners to head into the mountains looking for gold. It was also where they returned when they found nothing. There were more bars and brothels in Skagway than permanent residents and the town retains its small-town charm away from port, but in the immediate port area nothing but souvenir shops.
After lunch we were met by our guide to head off to a sled dog encounter way up in the hills where the temperature was at least 15 degrees cooler. Did I mention in Skagway port it was in the 90’s.
Once we arrived at base camp for the training facility, we were loaded on to these monster trucks modelled after WWII German vehicles used to move troops.
At the camp, there were four teams of dogs hitched to sleds with wheels. We then became the “load” our team was carrying during their summer training for the Winter races they would be competing in. At least two of the dogs in our team had actually competed in the Iditarod and so had our driver. These training sleds go about 25 miles per hour which seems much faster when you are sitting on them, but the dogs are trained for endurance not speed.
Then came the best part, the puppies. There were two litters of puppies. One set of five, were 3 months old and extremely loving and affectionate.
The second set was seven puppies 3 weeks old and a very exhausted mother.
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Great pictures… Especially the four of you overlooking the water.