Glacier to Alaska Excursions

It is hard to believe that last Sunday I took my final helicopter ride of the season. Four months ago, I began my summer on the Herbert Glacier, and rather abruptly, the season is over. The last two weeks were filled with their own highs and lows as well as beautiful days and stagnant whiteouts. I continued my marathon reading, totaling my book list to a healthy twenty novels. However, as the end came closer, we had little time to relax, using every spare moment to break down camp instead. We took apart every tent and tent platform, packed away all seventy-five doghouses, and sorted all the gear. Every single returning helicopter was full not only with tourists but all our extra gear as well. The cheeks and aft of the helicopters bugled with tents, tools, stoves, paint, buckets, spare sled parts, empty propane bottles, and much more. End of the season tours were also slightly different, as there was neither dining tent nor doghouses with which to model and fill time on the tours. The trail itself brought new challenges. Clear blue standing water covered sections of the trail, and crevasses criss-crossed our path. Unfortunately, one guest actually fractured her ankle while crossing one of the crevasses. Five pages of statements later, it was concluded that the guest was ultimately responsible since she had signed the waiver stating she understood the risks involved.
About two hours after I flew down, the dogs landed after their second, and last, helicopter flight of the season. It was the first time the dogs had seen solid ground in four months. As each one animatedly leapt to the ground, I had an image in my head of lost sailors washing onto shore after months at sea, kissing the ground and thanking god. Whether the dogs were thrilled to finally return to solid ground or they were just happy to be out of the helicopter, it’s safe to say that they were ecstatic. I loaded all 39 into the trailer, and John Fink picked us up and drove us out to Alaska Excursions. Alaska Excursions is a ground operation where teams of 16 dogs pull a cart on a mile loop. For the next week, the dogs will relax and let their pads toughen up before they begin working again. If only I was so lucky. I had two days off, spent Wednesday storing the last of the glacier gear, and then on Thursday I started working for Alaska Excursions giving a combination of cart tours, doggie demos, and musher talks. Overall, it has been an easy transition. I’ve moved from a tent with a propane heater on the glacier to a four-wall tent with a wood stove on Douglas Island. I’ve switched from real sleds to 1,000-pound carts (which I might add don’t steer at all like sleds, as I discovered when I almost ran my cart into the embankment). One of the perks of living on the ground is that I can free run the dogs. This morning, I took groups of four dogs for short hikes in the Tongass National Forest around camp. I’ve never seen dogs so happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM-5P24PiJA