Dog Sledding and Fishing in the Ocean?! Yeah, I love my life!

    

So yesterday both Colin and I had the day off and we decided to go dog sledding. Luckily for us the weather was absolutely phenomenal and there were plenty of open spots we could get on. So we get to Temsco and go through all the motions, safety briefing, life vests, boots, dividing in to helicopters, and last but not least getting IN the helicopter! Since we were going for free (although I don't consider it free... I do have to put up with a lot of crap from tourists, I earned that tour haha) we got middle seats but the view was still incredible. Thanks to the lovely cloudless day (a rare thing here in July) our pilot was able to fly us up higher than normal so we could get the most spectacular view of the Juneau Ice Field. There were mountains and snow and ice for as far as you could see. I could even see the mountain that formed the division line between Canada and the U.S!

Juneau Ice Field at it's finest!

Now you all need to remember that ever since the movie "Balto" came out in 1995 (I was 4) it has been my dream to go dog sledding! So when we rounded the bend to see the dog camp I was ecstatic! It was finally all real to me! I was in Alaska, in a helicopter taking me to a glacier where I would be dog sledding with dogs and mushers who had participated and were training for the Iditarod. Yeah, how many people my age get to do that?! (The advantage of marrying someone 8 years older than you who already has a career ;-) )

Dog Camp!

 

 

 

We landed, they unloaded us and we learned a little more about how the dog camp works (which I already knew most of it since, well you know, I work with them) So below will be a few pictures of the adventure.

Me and the Hubby on the sled!

The Howler lol. This dog howled and howled and howled because he wanted to pull the sled.

Is it just me or does this dog look a lot like a Yellow Lab?! Gotta love Alaskan Huskies the "Designer Dogs"

Getting mauled by Piper. Lead Dog Trainee and of course goofy Electra the Lead Dog Trainer makes the picture!

I should quit my day job and become a Musher. I think I could pull it off :)

 The above is a video of the dogs pulling the sled. I don't know why the color was so bad, but you get the idea!

And the not so talented but oh so sweet Goblin. He isn't really sled dog material, his build is all wrong for it. Our musher said he will keep working with him, but it's not promising. He was such a sweet boy though. I wish I could have him as a pet!

 So that was the Dog Sledding part. Now for the next one, Ocean Fishing! WOOHOO!! So when we got home our roommates were all going to go with one of the other pilots to the "beach" (a beach in AK is rocks... really, but its still fun!) and they invited us to come along so we agreed. We got into our beachy gear and Colin at the last minute decided to take his fishing rod. Smart move! So we all pile into a mini van and head on our way. We finally find a good place to stop and Colin and I started scoping out places to fish. Unfortunately the best one was on this point and there was already someone fishing there. So we settle with something just to try out the waters (hehehe). First cast, he gets a bite! And not at low tide either! Things were looking good. The fish were jumping like crazy out there, but just too far away to cast to. We moved about 5-6 times until finally the people on the point moved a little ways and we could go fish out there too. Cast after cast there was nothing until!!!!!! Oh.... Just seaweed... well that is just fantastic. But then..... a real bite! He reeled it in and it was this little dinky baby salmon... so Colin unhooks the little guy and lets him go. More casts go by and still nothing. I'm watching Colin and next thing you know the line was being tugged and I thought to myself, oh its just more seaweed until I saw this big fish jump and the line moved with it! Oh my goodness he had something! It was quite the fight, the rod was bending pretty good! But of course, my man wasn't about to let the fish have the win. And that my friends, was Colin's first salmon! After fighting to get the hook out and much deliberation we decided it was not a King Salmon and that we could keep it (Dinner is gonna be GOOD tonight!) After the big catch we sat around with our friends and made fun of each other, ate chips and took lots and lots of pictures (most of which are candid pictures by Katy...). When we got home we looked up what kind of salmon it was and we learned that it was a Pink Salmon. Now, for some Salmon knowledge. There are 5 kinds of Salmon you can catch in AK which is handy because there is a trick to remember them using the 5 fingers on your hand. You ready? I will quiz you later so pay attention.
Thumb: Chum Salmon (I don't remember the reasoning behind it, but it had something to do with the fact that it was used as bait for other salmon or something like that).
Pointer Finger: Sockeye Salmon (you can sock somebody's eye out).
Middle Finger: King Salmon (Its the biggest fish and the middle finger is the biggest finger).
Ring Finger: Silver Salmon (You wear silver rings on your ring finger).
Pinkie: Pink Salmon (if you can't figure out that one... well... I won't go there...)

There you have it! And when I said I'd quiz you. I mean it!