The
LIFE of Lee and Karen Duquette
before becoming the Two RV Gypsies
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A helicopter ride from Juneau
to go dog sledding on The Norris Glacier in Alaska
May 26, 2004
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 |
Below: Juneau Icefield
is a spectacular expanse of mountains and glaciation, which an be
up to 2,000 feet thick. It is the source of all the glaciers in the
area, including Mendenhall, Taku, Eagle, Herbert, the Norris Glacier
and 37 other glaciers within a 1,500 square mile. Almost 3/4 of all
the fresh water in Alaska is stored as glacial ice. |
 |
 |
Below: Views from the
helicopter |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Grandeur of Glaciers:
Glacier ice often appears blue to the eye because it absorbs all the
colors of the spectrum except blue, which is scattered back. Below
is the Hole-in the-Wall Glacier. |
 |
 |
 |
Below: A little bit of
rain while riding in the helicopter. |
 |
 |
Below: The helicopter arrived
at The Norris Glacier - one-fourth mile up, with 15-20 feet of snow
on top of the glacier. The ONLY way to reach this
glacier is by helicopter. |
 |
 |
.jpg) |
Below: There were 200 dogs
are on the North Glacier on this date. To get them here, the seats
were removed from the helicopter and 20 dogs were flown in at a time.
There are 8 to 9 dogs on a team with 10 teams running on this
date. There are two sled behind each team of dogs, The Muster drives
the front sled, The dogs are fed 3 times a day with 10,000 calories
per day and they burn the calories off. Some of these dogs compete
in the famous Iditarod races. |
 |
Below: Lee Duquette and
Black Toe, the biggest dog on the glacier |
 |
 |
Lee Duquette and the sled dogs. |
Karen Duquette and
Mr. T who has been a lead dog in the Iditarod |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Below: A small partial
view of the massive glacier. |
 |
 |
Below: Karen and Lee Duquette were
ready to do some dog sledding with Matt the Musher |
 |
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 |
Below: Photos taken by Karen Duquette
while dog sledding. |
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If you are not the lead
dog, the scenery never changes. |
 |
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