Has anyone done it in Skagway and Juneau??

[natesfirewife]

I thought that might get everyone's attention. :) I wanted to find out if anyone has done the Dog Sledding in both Juneau and Skagway? And if so which one did you like better? I am truely hooked on the Ice Trekking but I don't think my kids are old enough to appreciate it the way I do. I think they'll have a great time doing the dog sledding and was contemplating which port. I was thinking Skagway because we are there for so long and we could do it after the Eagle Preserve in Haines. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Misty

[JohnQ]

Misty, you are a troublemaker!! Talking about sledding on snow or wheeled buggy? Have not done in either but did do wheeled tour at Seavy Family Ididarod in Seward. Fun and good tour. I have read that some of the snow dog sledding being cancelled due to lack of snow? Can't afford snow dogs, have to do in Truckee, CA when they race here.

[Veloran]

I just went on the helicopter and dogsledding in Juneau. In my personal opinion, the dogsledding is a unique experience, one that I'm glad I had the oppurtunity to partake in, but not one that I would do again. It was fun but no where near the thrill of the actual helicopter flight. Of course for kids, it might be different.

Next time, I would still take a helicopter flight but would look at the Pilot's Choice Glacier Exploration. That one you get about 50 minutes of flight time and 30 minutes on the glacier.

[natesfirewife]

JohnQ - Thanks for the compliment! :) I have heard of the non-snow sledding but hadn't talked to anyone who had actually done it. I love the helicopter rides, I wish they were longer.

Veloran - Did they take you on any tour of the glacier or was it straight to the dog sledding and back?

Misty

[Veloran]

natesfirewife,

No tour of the glacier, just a little bit of narration from above indicating which glacier we were flying over, different glacial features visible, etc...

[Coral]

I actually did the sleddog on wheels in Skagway (Dyea)- if you have questions, let me know.

There are pictures on my website:

[URL=http://homepage.mac.com/tlassek/alaska2004/PhotoAlbum35.html]wheeled dog sled[/URL]

[worfsmom]

No, we didn't do the dog sledding in either, but we did do the "other" in Juneau ! Sorry couldn't resist............ that just this darn dirty Canadian mind.
I do have one question...... if you kayak or canoe right beside the glaciers, what happens if they "calve". I've seen the Hubbard glacier calve, and it looked pretty dangerouse to be directly below it. The sunami alone in a kayak would be chilling to say the least ! Do they get that close?

[natesfirewife]

worfsmom - You make an interesting point and I would hate to be the one to find out!! LOL.

Misty

[worfsmom]

Could someone on this board please try the kayak at the glacier, and let us know what happens when it "calves" and you're underneath..... if you're able after the incident..... please post us a message ! LOL

[lucyjohnz]

They did the "Mendenhall Lake and Glacier Kayaking" excursion and he was disappointed because they never got closer than 5 miles from the glacier. So, I'd assume even 1-2 miles from a glacier would not cause a problem when calving. When we viewed Hubbard Glacier on the cruise ship, we only got as close as 1.6 miles. I would bet they don't let Kayaks get very close.

[mpk]

[quote name='lucyjohnz']I would bet they don't let Kayaks get very close.[/QUOTE]

Yes, it could be very dangerous. I didn't see a large piece calving, but a small round piece of ice. (I think it was small, there is nothing to get relative size from). Anyway, this one piece of ice made a loud explosive sound. We all thought it was a hunter's gunshot when we realized it was simply too loud.

[natesfirewife]

Last year on the Radiance we got within 6/10's of a mile to Hubbard Glacier. Unfortunately it was fogged in and we couldn't see anything. But we got to hear the "shot guns"!

Misty