Alaska: An Inside Look At Dog Sledding

But wait! Who needs to stop at one week? There are cruise choices that go up to two leisurely weeks on small vessels that go into areas unreachable by the big cruise ships, and there is always the option of staying on land for a visit before or after your cruise.

We recently did just that: sailing northbound from Vancouver through the scenic inside passage, through Glacier Bay and College Fjord, and on across the Gulf of Alaska to the Anchorage area. We opted to do a custom land trip with a wonderful group of travelers to the Kenai Peninsula, Talkeetna, and Denali National Park.

This was a special trip for us: one celebrating the 20th anniversary of our travel agency. I'd offered Dave and Jennifer a little article on some portion of this great trip, and I was thinking about content as we traveled. Sure, the ports and scenery on this itinerary are fabulous, but that is widely covered. What we chose to share is a great experience for animal lovers.

Any dog fans out there? Have you ever followed the Iditarod race held every year in Alaska? It is one whopping race, and like they say in their advertising, "The Superbowl is for the sissies in the lower 48."

The teams consist of 12 to 16 dogs pulling a sled and driver, covering 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days, depending on the weather. The route covers terrain including snow, iced-over rivers, mountain passes, tundra, and dense forest.