Alaska Travel Update #7

Today, July 10, we started out the day by going to the dogs. That is with a visit to Sled Dog Kennels and information about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. Yesterday as we were talking with the RV Park owner, he asked if we wanted to attend a Sled Dog Kennel presentation. He said that DogGoneIt http://www.doggoneittours.com/was having some filming done and wanted to fill their presentation with people. There would be no charge. Of course we said yes. At 8:30ish, a bus picked us up at the RV Park.

The driver, Caitlin, is one of the owners and married to Mike Santos who has competed in the Iditarod Dog Sled Race three different times. They still compete some, but have gone into raising and training of the dogs. Caitlin stated that Cantwell was one of five indigenous people's corporations in Alaska. In the past, if you were native Alaskan, the Federal Government gave you a homestead of many acres of land and paid you a monthly subsistence allowance. They then formed five different Corporations, and the Federal Government provides the funds to the corporations who in turn give it to the native Alaskans registered with the Corporation. This took the Federal Government out of a piece of the process. The Corporations assist the members of their Corporations by building community centers, assisting in job placement, college scholarships and the monthly subsistence allowance. Up until the mid 1980s, you could still get a homestead in Alaska. The property that they now own was first Homesteaded in 1948 by one of the first Park Rangers in Denali Park. The property had been uninhabited for more than 30 years when the Santos finally acquired it. With a lot of work they have refurbished the property, moved the existing log home onto a new foundation and raised Alaskan Huskies. All of this and Mike still managed to compete in three Iditarod Sled Dog Races. Now their focus is on raising and training the dogs into stellar athletes that they still use for Sled Dog Races, but also sell to other Sled Dog kennels and teams. When you get off the bus, you are greeted by Mike and some assistants, who hand you Alaskan Husky puppies for you to hold and play with.

Mike Santos - 3 time Iditarod Competitor

Cute pup, don't think it would like Texas much

Those teeth are sharp

Nothing like a little Puppy love

Restored by Mike and Caitlin Santos - moved to this location

This gets you involved first hand and it also socializes the dogs to humans. You then go to the kennel area, where they have 54 full grown Alaskan Huskies. 

The dogs are divided into teams. If I remember correctly, they were The Little League, which are one year old dogs, the Junior League which are dogs about two years old and then the Big League Dogs are all the older dogs that are the active racing team. 

In the Iditarod you can have up to fourteen dogs. Nine or ten is the optimal. You can't add dogs to the team, but you can remove a dog from the team. Today, as soon as the handlers picked the harnesses, pandemonium broke out. Everyone of the fifty four dogs wanted to go. They love to run and work. It was evident in their reaction. Care has to be taken when hooking the dogs up, as they will take off without you. In the summertime, a four-wheel ATV is used as the sled. They keep the motor running to provide some additional resistance and braking. 

It is fascinating. While Mike is out taking the team on an exercise run, Caitlin goes through the care and nurturing of the sled dogs that they breed. There is a lot of training, a lot of dog care that goes into this business. Each dog has his own house. The dogs are spaced and picketed far enough apart so they do not get physical contact with each other. 

In the winter, if they are getting ready for a race, they will take those dogs in doors to a sleeping area that is about 50 degrees. This helps to keep their muscles limber. 

After each training/exercise run, and every rest break during a race the dogs get inspected and massaged. They can quickly find any problems the dog might have. And yes, they do wear boots when racing, as the snow and ice can be abrasive to their feet. 

This is a must see tour that anyone living in or visiting Alaska should see. The Santos are very friendly people. I asked about the difference between the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest, both of which are 1,000 mile races. Mike stated that logistics was the biggest difference. For the Iditarod, you pay a small fee and they transport all your gear to each checkpoint so you know that it will be there. In the Yukon Quest, you are responsible to get your supplies to each checkpoint. This increases your cost of participation. Other than that, they are both 1,000 mile Dog Sled races. I'll close this with some random photos taken during the tour.

It was very evident that the Santos and the people that they have working for them love those dogs and greatly enjoy sharing what it takes to care for the dogs, and the time and training involved to make them all into great athletes.

After returning to the Motor Home and caring for our own dog, it was off to Denali Park.

We started at the Visitor Center, which is where you get your park pass, register to go into the back country, watch films on traveling in the backcountry, including animal awareness and safety, and a short film on the Park. They also have several dioramas with life size replicas of the animals that live in the Park. 

The closest that we got to seeing Denali Mtn

We found it interesting that though the diorama indicates there are wild cats in the Park, the emphasis on safety seemed to be on the Bear, Wolf, and Moose. After a visit to the bookstore/gift shop, we decided to drive the Park Highway. The Park Highway is more than 90 miles long and tourists can only drive the first fifteen miles, to Savage River. There is a lottery for a permit to be able to drive the entire length of the Park Highway in September. We made the 15 mile drive and as we were turning around there was some commotion and we looked down on the river and saw a large Caribou on a gravel bar, eating and lying in the shallow water.

Looking down the Savage River

End of the 15 mile drive - Savage River guard station

After taking many photos, it was off back down the Park Highway to the Denali Park Bus Terminal. Here we purchased tickets for a tour on Friday that will take us 27 miles in on the Park road, on a bus, with a naturalist. This is scheduled as a six to seven hour tour, and ours leaves the Denali Bus station at 6:40AM.

After a quick stop in Healy, AK which is a mile north of the Denali Park access road, it was back to Cantwell and the Motor Home.

On July 11, 2019, we attended the Sled Dog demonstration in Denali Park. This is a little different as they allow limited contact with the older dogs and no contact with the puppies - They breed for one litter per year and do bring in dogs from other Kennels to keep from inbreeding. They have 34 dogs on site. As opposed to the racing dogs, these are work dogs and are used to move supplies and materials around the park in the winter. 

We also noticed that they used “Kongs” to make the dogs “work” for their food. “Kongs” are rubber or plastic containers that the dog has to move around in order to get the food to come out. Winter patrols by the Park Rangers are common and along with moving supplies, they check on the various park outbuildings that Rangers hike to in the summer. The demonstration is short, using a "Go-Kart" type sled and only four dogs and the track is only about a quarter mile.

Dog houses about the same size as those previously seen and dogs staked the same way. They do have larger fenced enclosures that they use to segregate dogs. When the dogs “retire” they can be adopted, but they have very strict criteria for the adopting owners, such as whether they live on property or in an apartment. What is the climate in the area is it warmer year round or is there a cold season. Basically a “retired” dog will go to a home in Minnesota before it would go to a home in Texas.

They also have a display of some dog sleds and some historical information on the use of dogs in the park. Dog Houses and the care and feeding are similar between these National Park dogs and the racing dogs at the Santos Kennel. Both groups of dogs want to run, but their primary duties are different. One group works hauling supplies and equipment and the other works pullings a sled with supplies as fast as they can. Great dogs no matter what.

Friday, July 12th the Tundra and Wildlife Tour - Goes from the Bus Terminal to MP62 - Stony Point - on the Park Highway. This is about fifty miles further than you can drive in your own vehicle.
The tour was scheduled to leave at 6:40AM from the Denali Bus Depot, about 45 minutes from where we were staying in Cantwell. So, it was out the door in the rain at 5:30AM.

Upon arriving, we did not have to wait long for the bus to load. This is a glorified school bus with better seats that holds 52 people. As we found in other National Parks, this tour is a concession, provided by Aramark. The driver/naturalist, stated that this was his fourth summer working in Denali. He had worked in Skagway and other Alaska places prior to working in Denali. After the in-flight safety instructions it was on the road. In this 60+ mile tour there would be four restroom breaks.

After the first 15 miles, those that the public can drive, the road turns to gravel. The further the road goes out the narrower it becomes. With the authorized vehicles and all of the tour and shuttle buses, the road did become crowded rapidly. Besides the tour buses, there are transit buses that run out to various stops along the way. Mostly to let out hikers and the like. You can get off the bus at any point and then climb aboard a different bus to return. 

The furthest out a bus goes is to Lost Lake, which is at the end of the road. This is about 95 miles out. We heard some "expert" say that if you took this bus you had to spend the night out there and get a return bus the next day. We were not able to verify this information. Though it would be a long drive to go all that way on those roads and then return.

I however remember, before Mt. St. Helens erupted, driving 200 plus miles of narrow single lane gravel road, shared with logging trucks, repair and fuel trucks and the public, every day. 

  

An "outpost" Cabin in the park

The views out the window included the rolling hills and mountains of the interior of the park. The vegetation went from forest to the tundra with grasses and some bush and very few scattered trees. Along the tour a couple of Sheep (White Specks) and a couple of caribou were seen and that was about it. 

The rain was pretty continual with it going from drizzle to heavy showers.

This turned out to be a long day, the seats were not bad, but, they were spaced about like airline seats, so there was not that much leg room. The few stops along the way that allowed you to get off the bus were great respites. Everyone was glad to finally get off the bus.

We returned home and got ready to leave in the morning. We had joined the 70% club. the percentage of people that go to Denali National Park that do not see the mountain.

Today, Saturday, July 13, travel was from Cantwell, AK to Anchorage, AK – We left at 9:23a after dumping both the grey and black tank. Two stops along the way, one for nature and then a stop in Houston, AK for fuel at Three Bears AK Shell station. Weather was raining off and on - good two lane road, goes over a pass that was pretty foggy. 

Arrived at Golden Nugget RV Park at about 2:15p. Golden Nugget RV Park is a packed 215 space RV Park with a large number of long term residents. Got a full hookup back in site - against the fence along DeBarr road. Is noisy and appear to be in the flight path for International and or military airbase.

We tried to find a CVS Pharmacy as we both had prescriptions to refill. The closest one was in a Target store and the Pharmacy is closed on weekends - the second one is further out and the pharmacy is open on weekends. They are able to fill our urgent prescriptions and the others can not be refilled until after we get back from Kenai Peninsula.

Next stop was Spenards Roadhouse - has a four star rating - but it is nothing special. I ordered the Carolina Honey half rack of ribs. Meat cooked well, but was dry, no sauce. Corn on the cob that was rubbed in salt before being grilled and garlic mashed potatoes that had no taste - not four star in my book.

At the Motor Home, we have OTA TV and all three Dish Network satellites - Debbie got to watch the end of her Rangers game.