Riverboat

Come on everyone! Let's board the Sternwheeler Riverboat Discovery for one of the most unique Alaskan experiences around! Get in line and have your tickets ready!

As we enjoyed our travel a bush pilot paraded his float plane, taking off and landing beside us!

Small homes along the Chena river, I could hang my parka in either one of them.

This is the home of (late) Susan Butcher and her husband David Monson. Born and raised in the lower 48, she dreamed of competing the Iditarod. It was always a mans sport and she was frowned upon by her competion, until alas, she won the 1,100 mile race from Anchorage to Nome not once, but four times!

With a microphone attached, David Monson came to the rivers edge and spoke about the Trail Breaker Kennels, his love of mushing and his dogs. I know this looks like a crude enviroment for all us dog lovers but I've quickly learned that sled dogs are some of the worlds best cared for athletes. They receive the best food and medical attention, and they get to do what they love best-RUN! Mushers treat their sled dogs like part of the family, the bond between them enormous. While a musher receives much of the glory for winning a race, it would not be possible without the trust and cooperation between dog and musher. Each depends on the other for success...and survival!

With the 800 pound ATV in neutral, and the dogs anxious to run, they pull him out the gate and around the lake in the background!

Around the lake and back, now it's time for the dogs to enjoy....

SWIM TIME! These dogs truly look happy and loved. Time to carry on...

As far downsrteam that we travel is the confluence of the Chena and the Tanana Rivers. The Tanana carries glacial silt and rock and cannot blend with the fresh clear water of the Chena.

We are arriving at an Athabascan Indian Village. In the foreground is a fish catching apparatus when on a "good" day can catch up to 500 fish that will be fileted and hung to dry outside in the sun for 30 minutes. This removes any oils remaining in the fish. Then the fish is moved to the smokehouse for 3 weeks, where it will continue drying. The fish we see here is chum, they run 2 times a year and are not used for human consumption. These are being dried to feed to the many dogs on the property and surrounding kennels.  

Time to disembark and check out the village!

For those of you that know Nancy well, being the cook in the family, and loving to smoke food, she had to make this her first stop! Notice the 2 story smokehouse in the background. We spoke to a village 4th generation Athabascan young man and he told us that his grandfather has a smokehouse that is 4 strories tall!

Garb, each piece has a significance in their culture

I finally found a cabin where I could kick back and relax. Rustic yet cozy....and mabe a bit dusty

Uhhhh, do you thinnk I ought to get off my arse and help out with a few chores?

This is what I look like in the wild!

Time to reboard and head back to the real world. We hope you had a great time!

One of the many souviners that could be purchased was a book wrtten by Susan Butcher, called Granite. Though it primarily is a childrens book the story touches adults too. In a synopsis she raised a dog that she named Granite. It was a runt, no good for nothing, worthless dog, that people said was definitely not worthy of being a sled dog. It had crooked legs and was too shy to learn from the elders of the pack. Susan loved this dog and through her love and compassion found a way to teach Granite how to overcome the great odds, to grow into a leader that eventually lead Susan to 3 of her 4 time Iditarod championships! Here the book is being signed by her husband.

Returning to the parking lot we were astounded how many tours buses were parked! Thank goodness we were not boarding any of them!