Day 2 in Denali, Dog Sleds

When we woke up today we were greeted by a Moose and her calf, maybe 2' from us.

Today we drove up the road hoping to see Denali, encountered fog so we turned around and headed for the visitor center. We were very early for the bus to the dog sled demo so we settled in at the VC theater and watched an interesting series of short movies about Denali. We then, per the Ranger’s instructions, followed the dog prints to the bus for the demo. 

 

Cute. Then we saw the line, wow! We thought the early demo would have fewer people but the line was long. Luckily there was more than one bus so everyone made it to the sled dog area. This is a popular stop and well organized.

Once we arrived we visited with the dogs for a while, some were friendly and wanted petting, some ignored us. Every once in a while one would start singing(howling) and the others would join in. 

 

We all made it to the demo area after visiting with the dogs and learned about the history of the sled dogs in Denali. We also saw a small run with some dogs hooked up to the training sled. That didn’t go too well as they were trying new dogs and a squirrel got their interest then 2 dogs decided to have a squabble. Fun overall.

Dogs were towing a training sled, went by very fast

Most parks have a donation area and we normally drop in some money. The sled dog area has Buck, you pull his mouth down and put your money in there. Cute.

After that, we ate lunch, went shopping. Our afternoon rain started so we went back to camp. Over the next few hours various Moose sightings in camp, none as good as this morning. 

When we went to the supermarket I found out what shopping "Alaska" style was. 2 aisles were dedicated to large size items. 5 gal Soy Sauce, 50lb. rice, gal vegetables etc.

 

Once we could turn on the generator I spent time making a pot roast in the pressure cooker. 60 minutes and done. So much easier than 4-5 hours on the range and need a dutch oven. We now have 4 meals. I haven’t been able to find any chicken in less that the family pack so that is off our menu for now. Haven’t seen much pork in small packages either. Cooking is becoming a bit of a challenge. Hopefully, when we get to Anchorage we will be able to find the chicken and pork.

Some of the scenery in the area.