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Published: August 20th 2012
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The first trail we hiked was called the Savage River Loop Trail. It was roughly a 2 mile walk but we added a bit of a challenge by climbing some of the rocky slopes to get some gorgeous views. During that hike we spot some caribou higher up the slopes. The photographers in the group posed us in various poses to capture some pretty cool photographs.
After the hike we wandered over to the Denali kennels to check out the Denali Canine Park Rangers. All the dogs used as part of the ranger program descended from the same line of husky breed. The program is used mostly in the winter months to haul in scientific equipment along with scientists. They also use them to haul out debris and perform rescues when required. Compared to the Iditarod, the park rangers use 7 dogs to pull the sled. You have two lead dogs whose job is to set the pace, the middle dog is called the swing dog. The swing dog is responsible to helping to guide the sled and dogs around corners. This is not something that can be taught to the dogs, the rangers look for a dog that naturally
runs to the side. The last two dogs are the pull dogs, they are responsible for getting the pulling of the heavy load started. Just like the dogs used for the race, these dogs live to pull and they have to walk them out on their back legs to the harness or else the rangers will be pulled all over the place. To keep the dogs exercised volunteers come in every day to walk the dogs.
We made the last day in Denali an adventures one. I conquered another first and on the first half of Friday we took an ATV Tour in the Alaskan Wilderness on a side by side ATV. The tour took us through creek beds and water along with uneven terrain. Apparently our group were the speed demons on the tour. They instructed at the beginning to keep the vehicle between 8 – 10 miles. We keep pushing it to 12 – 15 mph. Thank goodness our 3 ATV’s were right behind each other but those darn tour guides had us boxed in so we kept having to slow down to 8 mph. We tried to get video but all you see if bouncing all
over the place. I did manage to capture some great pictures with my camera on the ISO speed.
The second half of the day we hiked the Taiga Trail which is an easy 1 mile trail which passes through the Taiga forest with views of the surrounding mountains and the Denali town. From this trail we picked up the Horseshoe Lake Trail which was an additional 1.5 miles to Horseshoe Lake. This trail presented a challenge because it descends 250 feet down to the lake which of course you have to hike back up. It circles partway around Horseshoe Lake. Horseshoe Lake is an oxbow lake meaning it was once part of the nearby Nenana River, until accumulating sediment and dirt clogged the connection between it and the river.
Next stop is Anchorage to catch a flight back to Sacramento.
Shutterfly link to all my pictures --
Sabbatical Trip
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