Jax Stumpes: Alaska Cruise: Skagway Sled Dogs (8/2/2019)

Friday, August 2, 2019

Alaska Cruise: Skagway Sled Dogs (8/2/2019)

Friday, August 2, 2019
Breakfast in the Garden Café.

Norwegian Jewel in Skagway

Shortly after arrival in Skagway, we disembarked for the shore excursion "Musher's Camp & Sled Dog Discovery." We boarded a small tour bus with the driver, Garrett. He kept up a commentary as we drove towards Dyea up in the mountains above Skagway. He was also informative, but his humor was a bit cynical. We were dropped off in a neighboring valley at Nelson Creek.

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha/King Salmon spawning

Generally, salmon are born in freshwater creeks and rivers. After about a year they swim out to saltwater oceans to live and feed for a number of years (one to eight). When a salmon returns to his freshwater home, there are changes in his color and mouth shape. At the spawning grounds, the females lay the eggs to be fertilized by the males. Once this business is done, the salmon die. King salmon turn whitish as they die.

It seems to be the end of the season for Chamerion angustifolium/Fireweed

Mushers' Camp entrance

We walked over to the Mushers' Camp for a restroom break, then boarded the Unimogs.

Unimog (Universal-Motor-Gerät) was developed in 1948 in Germany
as a multi-purpose all-wheel drive truck, and with eight gears (six forward
and two reverse) is capable of climbing 45-degree inclines

Erich, Pete, and Dylan are the first on board

The Unimogs took us higher on the mountain to where most of the sled dogs are housed and trained. They are kept far from towns, as their enthusiastic barking is loud and pervasive.

Sphagnum sp/Peat Moss covered the wooded slope

We were assigned to the training sled of the dog team of Beckie Hatcher

Beckie Hatcher is a Vet Tech from Minnesota who has moved to Alaska to raise sled dogs and train for the Iditarod. She needs only one more race to qualify for the original long distance sled dog race.

(Video by EHS)

Erich, Kent, Tamiko, Dylan, Pete (EHS)

We were told the dog sled carts weighed about 600 pounds, so with the additional weight of passengers, the dogs could be pulling close to 1,000 pounds. When the dogs see people approaching, they know they are going to run and start barking in excitement.

Beckie's team, headed by Chili and Otto

We rode along trails through the woods, and boy, did it stink! The male dogs are always trying to mark things by peeing, even as they trot along. After the ride, we were allowed to meet the dogs.

Dylan with a brother-sister pair of dogs

Pete is with Julia

This dog played in his water bowl,
pawing at the water so that it splashed backward

Erich with the related pair

Lead dog Otto

Pete, Dylan, and Erich with the retired lead dog, Chili; she
seemed totally pooped, but actually likes her belly rubbed

A viewpoint halfway back down the mountain

Pete, Dylan, Kent, Tamiko, Erich

It's so steep, you cannot see the road in front of us

Sled that actually participated in the Iditarod

A young woman told us about the Iditarod, explaining the qualifications and requirements of the race. However, she did not know why it was called the Iditarod, or how mushers got their name.
Historically sled dogs were used for transportation by the Alaska Natives and then the early gold miners who traveled into wilderness. During World War II dog teams were used by the Eskimo Scouts to patrol. But once snowmobiles became popular in the 1960s, the sled dogs were threatened with extinction. In preparation for the 100th Anniversary of Alaska becoming a US Territory, Dorothy Page came up with the idea of a sled dog race over the Iditarod Trail. She was joined by Joe Redington, Sr who also wanted to preserve the historic Iditarod Trail. In 1967, the Centennial race was held on 56 miles of the trail.
"Redington had two reasons for organizing the long-distance Iditarod Race: to save the sled dog culture and Alaskan huskies, which were being phased out of existence due to the introduction of snowmobiles in Alaska; and to preserve the historical Iditarod Trail between Seward and Nome."
Work to clear the nearly 1,000-mile trail route continued, and in 1973 the long-distance Iditarod Trail Race was born. The first winner took three weeks to complete the race, as mushers had to clear many parts of the trail themselves. The race is really a reconstruction of the freight route to Nome and commemorates the part that sled dogs played in the settlement of Alaska.
The musher, the person driving the dog sleds, used to shout "mush" to command the team to start pulling. The term is rarely used now, but the origin is from the French "marche!" The first Europeans in the Canadian West were the French Voyageurs who transported furs over long distances.
Now that sled dogs were being used for racing, the traditional Alaskan Malamute was too heavy for speed. Dogs were bred to be lighter and faster, resulting in a mongrel Alaskan Husky.