Dog-Sledding in Alaska, 2015

While planning for my first visit to Alaska, I searched for some of the best activities to do and so many great options came up. I decided to pick just one, since many of them were pretty expensive, and save the others for another trip! What jumped out at me immediately was dog-sledding on a glacier......and taking a helicopter to get there! Bucket list item after bucket list item. 

Every stop on Turnagain Arm was breathtaking

View from the top of Alyeska

This tour was in a small town just outside of Anchorage (along the Turnagain Arm) called Girdwood. I wasn't quite sure how long it would take, and being my father's daughter, naturally, I got there extremely early. Luckily, Girdwood is also home to the Alyeska resort, which is a popular ski mountain in Alaska. During the summer months, you can take the gondola up to the top, hike around, enjoy the view, have a meal, etc. So before my tour, I made that stop. What was hard to believe was how much altitude I gained on the gondola, yet we still weren't at Denver's altitude of mile high! But beauty is everywhere - no doubt about it. 

Next was the main event. I found the hangar where I signed my waiver and did the safety lessons. The company I used was Alpine Air. This was a bit terrifying, to be honest. The past few years, I've had a bit of anxiety when flying, and having never been on a helicopter, I was nervous what it might be like. There was a family of four and one other individual on this trip with me, but realistically, I was by myself and didn't want to let my fear show. But as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The helicopter ride was only about five minutes to the glacier, but it was so incredibly smooth. I was shocked and how peaceful it was, plus we all had a headset on and loved talking to each other through the mouthpieces.

When we arrived on the glacier, we saw so many mini-igloos, which were the homes for all of the dogs. They assured us that the dogs were extremely well taken care of on this glacier. Many of them are descendants of dogs that race in the Iditarod, and they are doing some of their training on the glacier. There were also several campsites for the guides that were there. They explained to us how they LIVE on the glacier all summer long. Once a week they go down to shower, get food, send emails, etc, but the rest of the week they live with the pups to take care of them - wow!

The tour is set up that only half can dogsled at a time, so my group was second. But they have an incredible way to distract you - with puppies! Yup, they have puppies on the mountain for you to hold and snuggle. I tried to sneak one back with me, but they have a strict policy on not taking a bag up with you. I think this is solely to prevent you from taking a puppy. :)






Next was my turn on the dog sled. I sat on the front, while the guide did his thing standing behind me. There really aren't words to even describe how incredible this was, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. So fun, so peaceful, and I even had a dog on my team named Denver! So meant to be. :) No questions asked, this adventure was money well spent.