Puppies in Skagway!!! (July 8, 2018)

Today began with a mushing excursion, so we had 4 excited kiddos that were missing their puppy at home.  They couldn't wait to get their hands on some husky puppies!  There were a lot of other activities in store before puppies, though.  We waited for our tour guide in the Skagway harbor.

Our tour guide took a selfie on Dan's phone while he was taking a family picture for us...

He was a pretty funny dude and a Harry Potter fan (complete with a Deathly Hallows tattoo), so he was entertaining.  He drove us out of Skagway to the former town of Dyea.  I say former, because the town no longer exists.  It was a major hub during the height of the Gold Rush, until the railroad line  was built into Skagway. Then, the people of Dyea completely dismantled their town and moved it to Skagway.  Not a trace exists any more. You can still see the raised, flat stretch of land among the trees where the boardwalk once existed, but there is not a hint to be able to tell a major town was located there.  It was very fascinating to think about.  Sidney read The Call of the Wild this year in Literature, so this excursion was particularly meaningful to her, as the book is about sled dogs and is partly set in Dyea.  

We arrived at the musher's camp in Dyea with this beautiful view.  

Then, they loaded us into Unimogs (humongous open air all-terrain vehicles) to ride up a mountain to the sleds where the dogs and mushers were waiting on us.  

Our musher was a professional sled dog racer that brings his sled dog team to this camp in the summer to train.  We got quite the ride!  The dogs stopped for a break partway through the run, and the musher took a few pics for us.  

After the ride, he introduced us to the dogs and we were able to pet them.  

On our way back down the mountain to the base camp, we stopped for a beautiful view of the Dyea Tidal Flats.

At the base camp, we met a professional musher who told us lots of fascinating facts about mushing, including the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. He works for Ryan Redington, who is a professional musher and whose grandfather started the Iditarod.  Then came the puppies!  They breed Alaskan Huskies at this camp, and they like to socialize them from a very young age in order to make them good sled dogs, so they give all of the visitors an opportunity to hold the puppies.  This one was named Arthur.  

They also have an area they call the Shark Tank for socializing and exercising the older puppies.  They were all relaxing while we were there.  We said we would like to have one of these giant hamster wheels in the right side of the picture for Deacon at home. 

We also had the opportunity to meet some of the more experienced dogs.  

The dog below, named Grr, is an Iditarod champion.  

Needless to say, a wonderful time was had by all.  The drive back to Skagway gave us a beautiful view of Long Bay.  Underneath that water is a shipwreck from the Gold Rush era.

Skagway has been maintained to keep its Gold Rush feel.  

One of the buildings on the main street is covered in driftwood.  

We also visited Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, which is also located on the main street of Skagway.  

It had some fascinating models and diagrams about the Gold Rush and the paths that prospectors took in order to attempt to locate gold.  

The trip up the mountain in Dyea was treacherous enough in the huge vehicles we rode in. I can't imagine what the prospectors went through during the Gold Rush.  

An exhibit about the children of the Gold Rush was fascinating to Hadley and Jack.  If you look closely, you may recognize a few of these kids.  

These were some of their stories...

After lots of fun adventures, it was time to head back to the boat for the final two days at sea.  We can't wait to follow the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest online next February and March!