Visit Alaska in the Winter?! Definitely YES! -Part 3

Time to get outside (besides being in a car) and enjoy the awesome snow around here. We got to do a few of the many winter activities offered around here during the week... snowshoeing, ice climbing, sled dogs tour, and ice skating.

First up... snowshoeing!

There are many places to go snowshoeing around here... anywhere with ungroomed/uncleared snow will do! We decided to stick close to home and go to my neighborhood park/bog.

I love this photo... neat off angle.

I suspect I went snowshoeing through here in the past... looks like the snow has filled in some tracks. :)

I kept wondering how many trees we were snowshoeing right on top of. I should really go back there and get a summer comparison photo one of these days. Looking back at the first snowshoe trip of the season through here... in November... I can definitely see a difference!

A different type of snowshoer... a snowshoe hare was recently here, hopping toward this spot where I am...

And kept on hopping past. With snow 2 to 3 feet deep here, you can really see how those feet of theirs help them stay on top of the snow.

Next up was ice climbing. My knee is still working on healing from the cabin trip over a month earlier, so I was a spectator/photographer for this one.

Gotta start off with some scenery (of course)...

Good ol' Alaska Railroad passing by...

First, a lesson in tieing in.

Ready to go! Swing that ice pick!

I made it?! Now what do I do?

The friend that "hooked us up" with this adventure... she makes this look so easy!

A swing...

 And a kick.  That's all there is to it!

Let's see this on video now...

Celine had a great idea to climb up and take pictures from up high.  So she took my camera up and got these great shots..

What a neat perspective of the view!

 Look at that ice fly!

So focused!

Our group!

And next... a sled dog tour with this year's Iditarod winner's kennel! Dallas Seavey himself wasn't there, but a few of the dogs that ran the race just a few days earlier were there.  We met in Eagle River and got a ride on Eagle River itself. As the musher was getting the dogs hooked up, it struck me that they're silent!  They're not barking or jumping to get going.  They just stood there!  The musher told us that they're not lacking excitement... it's just that Dallas has trained them to NOT bark and pull because it's a waste of energy. That guy doesn't take anything for granted! They were all VERY sweet dogs.

Waiting patiently to get going. Not what you usually see when sled dogs are first hooked up to the line, but these guys were all very happy to run... don't be fooled!

The scenic ride on Eagle River.

Must... cool... down! This March sunshine is almost too much for a sled dog. :)

I love when the dogs look back when the musher talks to them.

We're pros at this now!

My personal favorite on this team... Gizmo. So sweet.

This cold snow feels SO good!

A successful ride! Time to lay down and cool off... again. :)

We also did a little ice skating on the last day of her visit, but I don't have photos of that. We practically had the place to ourselves, with just one or two other people out there while we were. It rounded out a great week of winter fun in Alaska, that's for sure! Winter is quickly departing for another year... but we might still get one or two more winter-ish posts in before the snow is gone. 'Til next time...