Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We often saw big back yards full of dog kennels and people “running” their dog teams in
the summer by attaching them to a sled on wheels. The dogmaster at the Denali kennels
explained quite a bit about it to us, how every dog is not suited to mushing, or even to
working in a team. Some dogs are born for the lead others are happier in a support role.
Those that love it, LOVE it. You can see how excited they are when they are being lined
up to get into the harness. They behave just like my old Lab did if anyone even mouthed
the words “walk” or “leash.”
There are races, big and little. The most famous of course is the 1850 km /1150 mi Iditarod,
but racing goes on in every town throughout the winter. Raising all those dogs is expensive
so in coffee shops across Alaska we'd see tip/donation jars beside cash registers with labels
like, “Mushing fund for Chendra's dogs.”
The cultural center also had an old fish wheel and this was interesting to me because we
had seen quite a few of these in the river out between Haines and Haines Junction. From
a distance these looked like big ferris wheels set directly in but at the edge of the river. I
figured they must have something to do with fishing but I could not work out exactly how
they functioned.
Up close it became more obvious. Numerous baskets are attached to a wheel (configured
just like a ferris wheel). As the river rushes through, the baskets scoop up both fish and
water, causing the wheel to turn and toss the fish into a central pen from which they cannot
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