Day 64 - Denali - hike day

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Today was hike day for Ron, Caroline, Joe and I. We took a bus ride about 15 miles into the park to the Savage River trail. As the name suggests it's a trail that follows along the river. The scenery was awesome and the 2 mile hike was not too bad. The worst part was the wind and temps in the low 50's. Unfortunately the only wildlife we saw was an arctic squirrel which sounded his displeasure of us being there. After the hike we headed back to the Visitor's Center for a quick lunch. We had to eat quick so we would not miss the dog sled demonstration. We were able to pet some of the Alaskan Huskies and see their environment up close. We even got to see the new 6 week old huskie pups. We learned that Alaskan huskies are used for transportation purposes and to patrol the park in the winter. They are a hardy breed and each dog is slotted to carry 50 pounds of cargo. The ranger explained the Iditarod dogs were like marathon runners, build for endurance & speed, while these dogs are build to not only have endurance but strength. The huskies were definitely bigger and more muscular than the dogs we saw at Susan Butler's kennel. We also learned when they go to hitch up the dogs they put them in two paw drive in order to be able to handle them. They explained once the dogs are in four paw drive they are very strong and ready to mush. Total we walked over 4 miles today so it's early to bed. What a great reason to be tired.

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