Alaska's Dog Heroes: True Stories of Remarkable Canines (PAWS IV)

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You might anticipate the Alusky to have the same instincts and drive to pull sleds since both of its parent breeds were originally developed to be sled dogs. Also, it’s possible that both individuals’ high levels of energy and outgoing personalities will be inherited by an Alusky pup. A great twin text for this book is Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. Both books are at the primary grade level with easy to read story lines. Stone Fox tells the story of Little Willy and Searchlight, a young boy and his dog who takes over his grandfathers farm after he becomes ill. In attempt to win money to save the farm Little Willy and his dog Searchlight enter into a dog sled race with some of highest skilled racers in town. Little Willy and Searchlight train day and night to compete in hopes to win the grand prize. GROSS: I find it interesting that somebody as verbal as you, both as a speaker and as a writer, would spend all this time in a completely non-verbal situation. What I didn't expect was account after account of North country miracles, genuine, unquestionable examples of God responding to the deep love and faith of one of His Children, a full-blood Eskimo named Patkotak. This book earned a place of honor on my bookshelf. Patkotak will remain an inspiration and I'll delight in sharing his stories of miracles in the Far North.

PAULSEN: I didn't. I was a poor student. At first, I flunked the ninth grade, pretty much. I had to take it over and probably graduated from high school with, like, a D-minus. I mean, I was a really miserable student. And a librarian turned me on to reading when I was about 15. And we didn't have television. And I read to escape. I would hide in the basement of this kind of apartment we were living in when they were drunk. And they were drunk all the time. They drank every day. Join Rozell, a science writer at the University of Alaska- Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and Jane, his chocolate Labrador, as they walk 800 miles across Alaska along the trans-Alaska pipeline, beginning at Valdez and ending up at Prudhoe on the Arctic Ocean. Winds of Skilak is one of the Alaska books that traces a young couple’s adventurous move from the suburbs of Ohio to a remote island on ill-tempered Skilak Lake. Picture this: World War II has just ended and Dad decides to move the family to the wilds of Alaska. Hmm. Could be fun; could be a nightmare. The author of this book, Wayne Short, discovered what challenge really means when his mom and dad moved Wayne and his two brothers to the wilderness of Surprise Harbor at the tip of Admiralty Island. Our next entry in this list of Alaskan dog breeds is a hybrid. This huge, fluffy hybrid breed combines the powerful Great Pyrenees and the tenacious Alaskan malamute. While the Malanees’ coat has less bulk than its Malamute parent, it is nevertheless well suited to the chilly alpine climate. In hotter regions, they don’t fare as well, thus daily river journeys are suggested throughout the summer.When outside help fails to arrive, John’s only hope lies in escaping. His thousand-mile trek across the Alaskan wilderness grows more improbable when he encounters a blind Eskimo girl and an elderly woman. The two need his protection from those who would harm them, and he needs their knowledge of the terrain and their companionship to survive. The harsh journey and constant danger push him beyond his limits as he discovers a new sense of hope and the possibility of loving again. GROSS: You know, in the section that you just read, the mother sends the son off on the train with a little note pinned to his lapel for the Pullman porter to read. Did you have a note pinned to you? This cross between the New Hampshire-bred Chinook and the Alaskan malamute is worthy of a mention on this list of Alaskan dog breeds. This genuine workhorse of a dog was created when the Chinook’s relentless pace and the malamute’s cold-weather resistance combined.

At the age of 27, Fannie Sedlacek left her Bohemian homestead in Nebraska to join the gold rush to the Klondike.Hal, an aggressive and violent musher who is Mercedes' brother and Charles' brother-in-law; he is inexperienced with handling sled dogs. In this coming-of-middle-age memoir, Kim Heacox, writing in the tradition of Abbey, McPhee, and Thoreau, discovers an Alaska reborn from beneath a massive glacier, where flowers emerge from boulders, moose swim fjords, and bears cross crevasses with Homeric resolve. In such a place Heacox finds that people are reborn too, and their lives begin anew with incredible journeys, epiphanies, and successes. All in an America free of crass commercialism and overdevelopment.

The book recounts Riddles’s historic race as the first woman to win the Iditarod in 1985. The story focuses on her race from start to finish, giving readers insight into her motivations and, more importantly, the choices that led to victory. Training and Racing Sled Dogs by George Attla Cleo recommended this one to me. It's non-fiction, but parts of it read like a novel. Others read as a textbook.

Ketchikan Kayak Company – Kayak Eco-Tour

MOSS-COANE: What do they need? And how do you take care of them in this - what? - 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-day run? These canines’ sizes can vary, usually falling between medium and large. They will nevertheless always be well-built, strong, and resilient. Depending on whose parent the dog’s almond-shaped eyes derive the most from, they may be brown, blue, or a combination of both. Moreover, the Alusky’s double coat of fur can be any number of colors. The color options include white, gray, brown, cream, or gold. One can expect the Alusky to have wolf-like traits because both parents have uncanny similarities to wild wolves. Even after my career was largely over, in 2017 I realized that a river in one of my former field areas on the Alaska Peninsula had never been named. I went through the official federal and State of Alaska procedures and named the Spirit River, which is in the vicinity of Port Moller on the Bering Sea coast. In some ways it felt like a capstone to my long and fortuitous career in Alaska. PAULSEN: (Laughter) I got over 20,000 maybe 22,000 miles on sleds. And most of that time, you're silent. You don't say anything 'cause the dogs don't need you to talk much. And it's interesting because I became - I lusted after it, the solitude. I just loved it. I wrote all the time I ran dogs. So when you train dogs, you run, say, four hours on and four off. And you just stop wherever you are and build a fire or sit on a snow bank. And I had notebooks with me, and I would write. I tried a laptop for a while, but the batteries got cold, and they don't work when they're cold.

PAULSEN: I think it was. I didn't - it's kind of an interesting dichotomy here. I didn't - it was just stultifying work. I mean, they work until they drop - you know, those people did. It was just - and they had joy and great happiness. But they also worked very hard. And mostly what I remembered for many years was the hard work. PAULSEN: I really did. I tried. About 10 below, you're done with a laptop. It won't work after that, and close to zero, even, is kind of rough. They don't like it much.

Alaska Tales – Mendenhall Glacier Tours & Whale Watching

Coming into the Country Coming into the Country is an unforgettable account of Alaska and Alaskans. It is a rich tapestry of vivid characters, observed landscapes, and descriptive narrative, in three principal segments that deal, respectively, with a total wilderness, with urban Alaska, and with life in the remoteness of the bush.