Mush, mush!

Our nice, shiny helicopter. :)

Today we headed over to ERA Helicopters for our helicopter flight to the Juneau ice field. Our flight through the mountains was once again really lovely. We also flew over the top of a few glaciers, so we got to see them from above for the first time. The helicopter felt like it was lazily and slowly flying through the mountains, but our pilot told us it was actually going over 100 miles per hour!

Gavin and I are ready to fly... with our life jackets. :)

Gavin is feeling bada$$.

We are ready to fly!

The view from the helicopter.

Our first view of one of the glaciers that make up the Juneau ice field.

The brilliant blue part of it is where it just calved, probably around an hour ago.

The Juneau ice field is still covered with snow. The tiny dots at the bottom are the dog camp!

The dog camp - home to more than 130 dogs and also several humans for three months. Everything, including the dogs, has to be flown to this location and back by helicopter!

Helicopters landed at the dog camp. Each tour usually takes 3-4 helicopters at once.

Gavin and I with a semi-cooperative husky that kept wanting to run back to his caretaker - that's why BOTH of us are holding on to his harness pretty tightly... :)

As we reached the Juneau ice field, we could see the dog camp. The "mushers" (people who train and drive the dogs) live isolated up in the field for three months, taking care of around 130 dogs! The sound when we arrived was a cacophony of yapping - the dogs knew they would get to run when they saw the arrival of the helicopters and were really excited. We got to meet and pet one of the dogs, then the owner gave us a brief demo of how to "drive" the sled. (I say "drive" loosely because we only got to "drive" one being towed behind the "real" sled driver...) As we got on the sled, the dogs got so excited that they were jumping in the air in their harnesses. Gavin got to drive our towed sled first, while the musher drove the sled in front of us. The glacier/ice field in this area was covered with slushy snow, and the dogs pulled us along a track through it. After a bit, we switched and I got to drive the sled, and later we switched again so the people in the front sled could move to our back sled and drive. It was fun to be towed along by the extremely energetic and wiry dogs. :) Whenever we stopped to switch drivers, the dogs threw themselves dramatically in the snow, either on their bellies or on their backs. Our musher told us that is how they cool off; I guess it is hard work towing 600+ pounds of people and sleds... :) (five people, plus two sleds!) Once we were at the end of the ride, we got to pet all the dogs, and our musher told us that all the litters of dogs have names that group them together by litter, i.e. one litter is named for types of mint candy (Junior, Pepper, Spear), one is named for Big Bang Theory characters, one is named by animals that start with the letter "P" (Panther, Puma, Puffin.) etc. (my nerdy self told them their next litter should be named "Kirk," Spock, "McCoy..." :) )

Gavin "drives" the sled. Notice the tow ropes? Those are not connected to dogs. Those are connected to the front sled and the REAL driver...

The lead dog takes a quick dive into the snow - it's hard work carting tourists! :)

Now I get a turn to drive. Mush, mush!! :)

Gavin and I with our team of dogs.

Now we are riding in the front sled with the real driver.

Another little rest for the puppies.

Giving the dogs some well-deserved love after our little trek.

Our helicopter ride on the way back took a slightly different path. This time we flew over a rare glacier that actually floats on a lake! We also got to see a few mountain goats high on the peaks, so another Alaskan animal to check off the list. :) On the ride back Gavin and I got to sit in the front of the helicopter with much better views!

Two glaciers tumble down the mountain, and their melting forms that lake at the bottom.

This glacier is unique in that it floats on a lake underneath it! The hole in the center is a sinkhole into the lake.

Our beautiful flight down to Juneau.

Another lake formed by glacial melting.

After the helicopter ride, we headed back into downtown Juneau to have lunch. We had some delicious pizza at Pizzeria Roma in Merchant's Wharf, then we headed back to the Rookery to have a little dessert and coffee to pass the time before our flight to Anchorage.

Once in Anchorage, we checked in to the Creekwood Motel. Gavin was in the mood to go see a movie since the weather was once again icky and rainy. We found the Bear Tooth Theater where we could both watch a movie and eat our dinner while watching. It was surprisingly good food. Then we headed back to our cozy little motel. We went to bed, the sound of the pouring Anchorage rain lulling us to sleep.

 

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