Puppy Love

7/16/07
It was tremendously windy all night. We were awoken to the mewing of
mew gulls and a few raucous ravens that decided that we should get up.
We found a bakery for breakfast and during breakfast we planned to
take an evening dinner cruise at the Kenai Fjords and to do a dogsled
ride with Iditarod Mitch Seavey's Ididaride Dog Sled Tours.
After breakfast we visited the Kenai Fjords vc. We chatted with the
ranger and she also convinced us to hike towards Exit Glacier in the
AM. We left and went to the Major Cruise lines and we scheduled our
visitor cruise.
We then rode out toward Exit Glacier. Mitch Seavey's is on the way so
we scheduled the dog sled tour first.
The glacier visit was a short 1.5 mile hike to a viewing site to get a
photo of the glacier and us. Its the only glacier in the NP that you
can drive to. The light was good and Ruth said she could easily see
the blue ice of the glacier. I don't see it so well but that is
because of my colorblindness.

We then rode back to Mitch Seavey's where we were told about the
Iditarod race and then shown the dog yard where the dogs stay. We
went and saw some puppies and finally, we boarded a sled for a ride.
The sled is made of diamond aluminum and has 4 wheels and 3 bench
seats. Because there were so many of us, I got to ride with the
driver on the back of the sled.
It was really too warm for the dogs to pull us the 2 miles easily.
They were panting more than usual but it was also because these dogs
are LEARNING to pull sleds also. This is the training for the dogs
that are not yet Iditarod racers. We did get to meet Tread, the dog
that won the MVD (most valuable dog) in the 2000 Idatarod that Mitch
won. Tread showed us all the clothing that dogs wear when competing
in the 1100 mile race.
I also have to mention that I was wearing an Upper lakes Foods
windshirt and one of the tour guides goes to Univ of MN-Duluth and he
recognized the company. His name was Andrew and he's already
completed the Iditarod once. He did say that he was also available
for sponsors (Craig, that was a plug for him).
From here, we returned to Seward for some personal maintenance. There
were public showers at the Harbormaster's office and a 7 minute shower
cost $2.
After the showers, we went to the library to check emails.
It was time for the evening cruise. We went to the dock and checked
in for our cruise and met two couples that drove MGs from Kalamazoo,
MI. During the cruise we joked and chatted with them all evening. On
the cruise we saw two humpback whales, a rock of Steller's Sea Lions
(endangered), lots of Tufted and Horned Puffins, Murres, Pelagic
Cormorants, Dall's Porpoises and Bald Eagles. We paid a bit extra
(everyone did) and had an all-you-can-eat salmon dinner. They also
had a naturalist, Dan Paine, that told us about the various glaciers,
rocks and wildlife we saw. Overall, Ruth and I had a very nice time
on the cruise and a very good day overall. We were also told that we
need to visit the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward before we leave
tomorrow. The boat docked about 10:15 PM (and yes, it was still light
out).

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach