TravelDog Stories
North To Alaska
We had a cabin on Chichagof Island, just outside the small fishing community of Pelican, AK, population 100. The cabin was situated on the Lisianski inlet, in the middle of the Tongass National Forest. Pelican is a roadless community accessible only by boat, floatplane and ferry.
We usually vacationed here with Zeke and Daisy two times a year. In 2003, we had the opportunity to live there from spring to late autumn. We decided to drive and take ferries from California to Alaska in our RV van. Our plan was to first drive to Bellingham, WA and take an overnight ferry to Prince Rupert, BC. From Prince Rupert, we would take another ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway System to Juneau. Once we arrived in Juneau, we would take the last ferry to Pelican.
We decided to break the trip up into shorter segments because it was easier on the dogs to not have to be on a ferry for longer than 24 hours at a time. Some ferries were non-stop and the dogs would have to be alone in the van for too long without a chance to do their business.
The dogs hadn't ever been on a trip this long before and I was worried about how they would react, as well as how they would adapt to living in extreme wilderness after being suburban house pets. Overall, the trip went smoothly. Zeke and Daisy are from a Guiding Eyes breeder in Connecticut, so they are naturally pretty calm. They surprised me at how quickly they adapted to life on the road.