And that’s exactly what we did which was really neat but first I need to tell you about the frustrating part of the day. It started all fine and good. We both slept late and had Banana Pancakes for breakfast. Our plan was to pack a lunch, head to the Visitor Center to get reconnected” with the world, take a nice hike of a couple of miles and catch the 2:00 Sled Dog Demonstration. After arriving at the Visitor Center and not being able to find a wireless signal there, I turned my phone on and retrieved 4 messages. Three were messages for Carl from Fairpoint about a tech e-mail he had sent them. The other was from my Mom. I asked a ranger where I could get a wireless signal and he told me the Riley Creek Mercantile was the only place in the park. That was our next stop. We figured we had the right place when we found about 10 people with laptops open and another few with cell phones. Some were downloading pictures, others checking e-mail, a few were charging cell phones, lap tops and kindles. I needed to get on to check my e-mail and post a few days worth of blogs along with some really cool photos. No dice on the connection. It kept saying I was connected but had no internet service. I tried rebooting and mumbling to myself about “what was I doing wrong” when the lady next to me asked if I was an Mac or PC platform. I’ve never been an apple kind of gal so after checking with a couple of other frustrated looking souls, we discovered there were 4 of us who could not log on, all of us Windows users. Carl went in and asked the lady in the store if they were having trouble. She said it appeared someone was downloading a movie which requires an enormous amount of bandwidth. I don’t understand these sorts of things but we waited and waited. Then we had lunch and waited some more. Every few minutes someone would get tired of waiting or finish what they were doing. Others were killing time waiting for laundry to finish and they were just there. Me, I had things to do. Well, I won’t drag out every painful detail. All I can say is after 2 ½ hours, I still wasn’t able to download anything to my blog or face book. We did get to the Sled Dog Kennel and get some up close and personal time with a few of the full time ranger dogs. They give three demonstrations every day and once the snow falls, they are responsible for helping the humans patrol about 6 million acres of wilderness. A ranger and a team of dogs will head out for two weeks. Cabins are located about the distance a dog team can cover in a day. These cabins are stocked in the fall with a large supply of people and dog food as well as plenty of propane. I can imagine one of those cabins would look mighty good after a day of -40 and snow drifts of several feet or more. The dogs just love to work. I wish I could show in this blog how quiet the 30 or so dogs were while us humans were checking them out. Most were either sitting or laying on top of their houses while some were curled up inside. These 60 degree temperatures are great for us but the dogs work best at about 10-30 below. Anyway, as soon as Ranger Ellen gave a signal, all of the dogs were up, barking, running around the enclosures or at the end of their chains as if to say, “Did someone say let’s go for a run?” Tails were wagging and I’d swear the dogs were smiling with the thought they might get chosen. Five dogs were brought out and the leather harnesses, already attached to the gang line, were slipped over their heads. Then, all the dogs in the kennel knew they hadn’t been chosen and they all settled back down. Only the five on the gang line were all wiggly and excited. Ranger Ellen said something like “Are you ready?” She got a yip or two and they were off. They made a quick loop through the woods and ended up in front of where 3 busloads of people were sitting. She talked with us about how the sled dog service came into being, how important these dogs are, how they are bred and trained, how they are selected and even when they are retired from running which is really hard because they love to run so much. I wondered why they were using leather harness instead of the nylon like the competitive teams use. I wish there had been more demonstration and less lecture although it was interesting too. We headed back to the campground but had to stop for several minutes because a bull caribou was in a dry streambed munching on whatever it is one might find to browse on, maybe lichen, minerals, grasses or shrubs. Once we got back to the camper, Carl asked if my knee could take a walk down along the rocky river and off we went. Supper was cooked outside tonight and we ate by the picnic table. We watched a red squirrel which is twice the size of our NH variety grab up a mushroom, retire to a tree and nibble on it for some time. The ranger talk this evening was on “Seeing The Big Picture”. The majority of people who come to Denali come to see THE mountain or THE wildlife or maybe even THE wide open wilderness. The suggestion was that we use all of our senses to take in the entire experience, the sights, sounds, smells and feel of the whole out of doors. She even suggested there are some parts that can be tasted. I got to wear a blindfold while Carl led me to a specific tree in the area. After feeling, smelling and touching this tree, I was led back to the amphitheater and took off the blindfold. Then I had to find the tree. I wasn’t even close. I knew the tree was small and sticky. That described about 50% of the trees in the area. It was fun anyway. These talks have been entertaining, informative and it fills an hour or so after a long day. I highly recommend them.
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