Husky Homestead/Denali Fun

 We only have a few weekends left of summer up here in the Far North so we are taking advantage of every moment. This last weekend we took a drive down to Denali National Park and the Husky Homestead. We started the day off with the Husky Homestead tour. This is a tour of the Iditarod Champion Jeff King's Huskies. When you first get there you are allowed to go and hold the puppies. This helps with their socialization skills and is a huge hit for most everyone. We were lucky enough to get out there just after a batch of puppies were born so they were 11 days old when we got to hold them. To me they looked like little bear cubs but the kids didn't agree with me and said they looked like hamsters.

 After we were allowed to hold the puppies they then moved us over to show us some of their training techniques. They had a yard full of dogs. And you can really tell just how much they love to run. If they bring out the harnesses those dogs would go crazy barking as if to say "Pick me coach! Pick me!" They demonstrated some of how they run by hooking up a team  to a four wheeler. The moment the team left the yard it went completely quiet. It was kind of eery. After that they brought over one of the dogs to show us the husky wheel. It allows them to run and run without worrying where they are going. The dogs love it!
When this portion was finished we were led inside where we were able to meet Mr. Jeff King. He has been doing the Iditarod race since 1989 and won it 4 times.

He talked to us about a multitude of things. One of them was the difference between a horn and an antler. A horn is something that an animal is born with and never looses, an antler is one that is grown back annually. So just an interesting bit of information there. He then went on to describe everything that goes into winning a sled dog race but most specifically the Iditarod.  One of the things he told us about was the winter gear he needs in order to survive. And then he brought out person in one of his suits. I told the kids that was what they were getting for school this year :)

After we were done at the Husky Homestead we headed into Denali to do some exploring. We stopped off first at the Ranger station and check it out and we found some long lost family there!

 Sassy was so excited to find her long lost self, she is such a little sheep! And of course Scotty found his long lost brother!




Of course before we headed into the woods he needed some sustanance. So ice cream was had by all but it looks like a few moose tracks were left on Sassy's face ?! And Topher was just in heaven getting some ice cream!!

So the hiking began. We drove down to Savage River and started exploring. At first all we saw were ground hogs but we headed down the Savage River trail and..........

Look at what we found!! Some Caribou grazing by the River. Neatless to say Riana was VERY surprised!

Of course we found the usual pretties as well. My personal favorite the Fireweed!

 I had the kids pose on the same rock they did last year and took a pic of them. I couldn't believe how much they have grown.







We love hiking as a family but it is never good to see this while hiking. Members falling out onto the rocks is never a good thing!

 Of course then there are other members of our party that think they can tame the rocks.

What can I say life is never normal for us but if it was it would be boring and no fun!!

Alaska!

Our new puppy is a true lab!! She loves the water, what started off as a time to water my garden turned into play time for Alaska! She is a nut!

Couples Weekend

So late wednesday night Scotty received a call that allowed us the opportunity to go to a couples retreat down in Denali, AK. The retreat itself was wonderful. We learned so much about each other and about our family in general. Well during our "homework" session we were able to go do an activity together. Scotty and I chose to go ATVing in Denali.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

 The first thing they did was talk about safety. Obviously they knew my hubby was coming to drive!!

The scenary was amazing. Mt. Healy was beautiful but it was kindof disconcerting to see the snow on the mountain tops. Fall/Winter comes early up here and it just shows that this is coming sooner rather than later.

 They took us on old roads, dry creek beds and in general some fun roads! And the scenary when would stop was beautiful!

He was having so much fun! I am surprised that he wasn't giggling while he was driving.

We stopped in a dry creek bed and were able to explore this gravel hill side. It was formed in such a weird way but was cool to check out.

Valdez Scenario

Valdez has some amazing scenary to go with all the animals. The water falls there will blow you away! This water falls pictured below is called Horse Tail Falls. Both of the pictures are of the same falls but on different settings.

The other amazing scenic view is the glaciers in the area. The Worthington Glacier is about a half hour north of Valdez. You can actually walk up to it if you like. I love the beautiful blue coloring that are in the glaciers themselves.

I can't for the life of me remember the name of this glacier but it is on the way down to Valdez.

Valdez Wildlife!!

Valdez Wildlife

The wildlife in Valdez was amazing. It seems like everytime I turned around I was seeing another beautiful creature. We saw a range of creatures from simple bunny rabbits to soaring eagles. The Pink Salmon that were running helped bring them all out!

Every time the tide went out the Eagle's and Sea Gulls would come out in droves and feed off of all they could find. And they weren't afraid of the locals. So I was able to get some great shots of them.

Along with the Sea Gulls there were a ton of otters everywhere. It was so much fun to watch them dive down and come up with a fish. They would then proceed to float on their back while they eat. This system worked great until the gulls found out they had a fish. Then they would start stalking them and wait until they weren't looking and try grabbing it. It was this wild cat and mouse game in the water.

The other great otter moment I had was while I was photographing a particularly close one she came right up on the beach about 50 feet from me. I was curious what would bring her so close to me? She was just curious and seemed to be checking  me out.

 Well it turned out that she was curious because I was standing over her two little babies. When I went back to the truck to tell Scotty how close I had gotten to her, she jumped into the rocks and pulled out her two babies. They were so stinkin cute! I sat and watched them for about an hour.

My other favorite animal at Valdez were the Sea Lions. They were feeding like crazy on the salmon that were trying to spawn. Obviously they didn't read the signage about fishing there!!

The harbor seals were also there. Their eyes always catch my attention. They are haunting and yet capture my attention every time.