Arriving at Juneau we have a full day ahead to explore the town, which is the capital of Alaska and to take our excursion on a dog sled ride. We were fortunate to have chosen this particular excursion because the weather was inclement and many other tours we learned later were cancelled on the day. Our tour took us into the heart of a beautiful rainforest and to a musher's camp which is set up for summer for tourism and training the dogs. On our arrival at the camp hundreds of dogs are set up in teams of 16 and harnessed to motorless carts each carrying six passengers. The noise of dogs barking is almost deafening and our musher Jay, tells us they will be quiet as soon as they start pulling us along in the 'sled'. She is absolutely right. The dogs are especially bred, a combination of husky, greyhound and another breed and they are bred for strength and speed.
After our exhilarating ride of about a mile through the rainforest we were then able to move around the camp, given a talk about competitive dog sledding and the various Alaskan races, equipment and history and then it was over to look at and cuddle the puppies. After a warming cup of hot chocolate we were bussed back to Juneau, which is a small town for a capital city.
For lunch we decide to accept the hospitality of the buxom young lady outside the Red Dog Saloon and join the party happening inside. It was a happy lunchtime crowd enjoying incredible atmosphere of an old world Wild West bar, lots of iconic animal heads and pictures and graffiti, sawdust on the floor and good tucker as well.
Back on ship that evening our table celebrated the 49th wedding anniversary of our new friends Paul and Maryanne from Georgia USA. After dinner our first stop was the Celebrity Theatre for another excellent show this time by a US comedian by the name Fred Klepp. We were all in stitches. Then we djourned with our group to the piano bar to enjoy the late hours with Jeremy Orens......what a talent he continues to be.
Next day arriving early afternoon at Ketchikan we have chosen to change our excursion from a Rainforest walk to the Wild Bear and Wildlife Tour. It was a good move yet again. As the rain tumbled down it was a lot more fun looking for wildlife in a rainforest (ponchos provided) from boardwalks and swing bridges than it would have been simply wandering muddy tracks. To our great delight we soon spotted a large female black bear with two cubs making her way to the salmon filled stream. We watched for ages and tracked her as she gorged on the fish and demonstrated her technique to her cubs. (Ray gets another tick on his bucket list.) Our guide then took us to look for other wildlife - a bald eagle in a distant tree, nothing else much until we got to the park rangers base where they care for injured animals including eagles and reindeer, which we feed and pat. A native Indian man is also carving a large totem and it is good to see him at work in a hut alongside an old sawmill. Another hot chocolate and we are on the bus back to town. We opt to take ourselves on a walking tour of Ketchikan especially to see Creek Street where we spy an otter catching salmon for his dinner.
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