After the helicopter dropped us off at the top of the glacier, we had a real adventure.
We got up to about 17 miles per hour on our sled ride!! You have to lean as you go around the corners, and say "gee" to go right and "haw" to go left. It's a much different experience in August than in March, when the Iditarod run actually happens... it was warm, sunny and short compared to the 1,100 miles they run on the Iditarod.
We were the only visitors up on the glacier along with the dogs owners, so we got to spend about an hour playing with the dogs. These Alaskan huskies are pure muscle, and bark like crazy but they are so sweet and friendly.
Riding a helicopter through the glaciers in Seward, AK
It was a magnificent clear day to see the glaciers, which were glistening with melted ice on this 70 degree day. We even swooped down to check out mountain goats on our way up to check out the Iditarod dog teams.
These reindeer (actually domesticated caribou) are smaller than you'd think. Or maybe Santa's sleigh is smaller than I think it is... In any case, they have beautiful soft velvet on their antlers that we could actually touch. Apparently, reindeer antlers are not designed for attacking but for pushing aside snow to forage for food. This one looks like Comet to me, what do you think?
Through this gorge, the glacier drops nearly 2,000 feet over ten miles and is raked with crevasses. Add in the solid granite cliffs that tower 5,000 feet above the glacier's surface, and you create an abyss that is deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Flightseeing over Mt. McKinley (or Denali, as the locals call it...apparently McKinley never set foot in Alaska). At 20,306 feet, this is the tallest mountain in the USA. We even saw some tiny tiny climbers starting their trek up the base. With the warm and sunny weather, visibility was fantastic, but the danger of avalanche increases.
I've been to Alaska about 6 times now, and had yet to see a moose until today, when we saw four. The photo with the park bench is a cow moose and her two long legged calves. Cute!
OK, so you need a lot of trust in a marriage to ride a tandem bike... fortunately we made it. Anchorage is a very bike friendly city, at least in the summertime :)
We took a ship to see the Portage Glacier, and it was the first week of the season, so they were actually breaking through the ice with the ship to get to the glacier. No pun intended...but COOL!
The sign I'm standing next to says "May there be peace on earth" in lots of different languages. Look at those breathtaking mountains!!!
We landed in Fairbanks just after midnight and saw a really spectacular sunset. The days are so LONG here in the summer - seems like the people who live here can really forgive and forget a long cold winter when they have days like this...
Here we are at the famous Alyeska Oil Pipeline. It seemed strange to me that it was seemingly so vulnerable - I never thought you'd be able to touch it. Apparently if anything happens, computers can shut it down immediately into 100 ft. sections. By the way, gas is cheaper up here by about 40 cents per gallon!
