Alaska, The Great White North. Day Four, part two

When we returned from our flight to Denali, we decided to head back to the National Park and explore a little bit. 

We found a sled dog demonstration taking place shortly at the kennels. We had some time before the demonstration started so we were able to walk around and see a lot of the dogs.

Sled dogs are the only form of transportation in the park during the winter months. These are working animals.

They are incredibly beautiful. And very well cared for.

Some of the puppies puppying around, biting each other until mama broke it up.

Such gorgeous color on these dogs.

Taking a rest before the demonstration, where they would be running as a pack pulling a sled.

Names of prior sled dogs in the National Park service.

On our way to see the demonstration, we saw the couple from the West that we had been stranded with on the Arctic Circle trip. They were on a bench, resting a bit, having just returned from the 90 mile bus trip into the park to see Denali.

They told us about the trip and the bear encounter they had. They were let off the bus to stretch their legs and take a bit of walk-about when several bears approached their bus. The bears were kind of between them and the bus. The driver told them in a low voice to make their way back to the bus, nice and slow. The bears watched but didn't chase. The couple were very scared and very glad to be back to the main part of the park.

So glad we climbed into a six seater tin can and flew the 90 miles to Denali to stand on a glacier that could shift at any moment. Much safer than bears.