Karen Schmauss

Met our bus on the pier at 9:50 a.m for our excursion: “Glacier Dogsled Adventure via Helicopter” ($419 each, 3 hours, 15 minutes.) The bus took us to Temsco Helicopters Inc., the tour provider. This package was very pricey and I balked at first, but Greg talked me into it, arguing that it was the opportunity of a lifetime. It turned out to be well worth it.

Our weights were noted to ensure balance in the helicopters. The disclaimer that Temsco makes participants sign on the bus ride over is ridiculous – it’s full of things like signing away any right to litigate anything, including their negligence or even willful actions! I took Torts in law school 23 years ago, but I know that it’s not worth the paper it’s written on. One of the guides said it was from their parent company, an oil company. Obviously an overzealous legal department wrote it.

But of course we signed it. At the Temsco site, we were issued booties that fit over our shoes and herded outside to the helicopters. We were put into a group that included our next-door neighbors on the ship, a grandma and her two grandkids, and Tanya from India. Then we were introduced to our pilot, a pleasant man named Steve (I think that ALL pilots in Alaska must be named Steve; at least this one wasn’t surly like the other Steve). We climbed aboard, put on headsets, and set off to the glaciers.

Steve narrated as we gaped at the unworldly beauty of the glaciers. I had no idea they looked like this, with deep ridges called “crevasses”. We saw blue ice, a natural phenomenon. The view was breathtaking despite cloudy conditions and smoke from a wild fire in Canada. Steve kept saying, ‘Here’s another Kodak moment!”

Eventually we landed on top of Norris Glacier where the Dog Camp was set up. Dozens of dog houses (“Dogloos”) dotted the mountaintop. Beyond them were white canvas tents where the crew lived. Our guide was Greta Smith, a very nice 23-year-old Alaska native who obviously loves her job. We received a safety briefing about the sleds, a photo op (Greta gladly took photos for the three of us, Greg, Tanya and me) and then we set off on the sleds. Greg and I were on one sled and Greta and Tanya had the other.

Greg and I took turns sitting and guiding. I liked sitting in the sled a lot more than guiding it. While guiding, I managed to lose both my map and water bottle as we sped along. Tip: don’t carry anything loose in your pockets!

After about half an hour of sledding, we stopped and were allowed to meet and pet the sweaty dogs. Some were Iditarod champs and quite a few were older dogs. One was 11 years old. Greta is training for the 2005 Iditarod, a grueling 1,112-mile marathon race from Anchorage to Nome. She gave us a slip with her website addie on it. (http://www.greta-smith.com/) She told us that the crew stays 10 days on the mountain and then gets two days off in Juneau, where they shower and mostly drink at the pubs. She said that they could shower on the mountain as she did that morning, using heated snow, but most don’t bother, as it’s a hassle. She can’t stand going that long without a shower.

Steve returned with the next helicopter full of tourists and took us away. The return flight was much briefer, a pity since I finally got a front seat! The best “Kodak Moment” was a black bear on the mountain, a tiny black dot that Greg saw but I managed to miss.

Back at Temsco’s building we returned our overshoes, claimed our luggage (no room for backpacks and such on the copters, plus they weigh too much) and decided to give a miss to the $14 snapshot that the crew took of us. (It was just a 3 x 5 face shot squinting into the sun against a stock backdrop of glacier and dogs). We were bused back to town where we wandered for a couple of hours in the shops. At the Red Dog Saloon we saw Wyatt Earp’s pistol on the wall, but cleared out of there quickly as the place was packed and noisy.

Sights on the walk back to the dock included the USS Juneau Memorial, Coal Miners Memorial and a statue of Patsy Ann, the bull terrier who greeted ships in the 30’s and 40’s.

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