Gold Fever Experience: Gold Panning & Alaska Sled Dogs
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Port
Skagway, Alaska, US
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Activity Level
Easy
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Excursion Type
Local Sightseeing,21,All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$109.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 3 Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
Experience life as a prospector on this fun-filled family tour that takes you back in time to the excitement of the Klondike Gold Rush. Your adventure begins as you meet your costumed guide and journey through the historic streets of downtown Skagway past wooden walkways to Dredge Town.
Learn about the state sport of dog mushing and its origins as an early and vital transport system in Alaska. Meet and interact with the Iditarod sled dogs and their puppies, stopping first at the checkpoint tent with your musher. See all the gear a musher and dog team take with them on a long-distance race such as the Iditarod. Your musher will introduce you to the dog team; then (s)he will hook the dogs to a sled so you can watch a demonstration run. Upon the musher's return, you're invited to interact with the dogs and hold the puppies.
Experience gold fever firsthand as you enter the Gold Rush Training Camp. Gear up at the General Store with your "ton of goods" to start your journey. Learn to extract paydirt, help sluice it and assay the results. Interact with entertaining costumed townsfolk and see the Sixty Mile Dredge -- one of the last rescued gold dredges used for mining in the Yukon.
Your Gold Rush experience isn't complete until you cure the fever by claiming your own fortune. Learn the art of panning for gold with a humorous and educational show while you practice your technique in warm-water troughs. You can count on striking gold. Haul your swag into the Assayers' Office and have it weighed -- you can keep whatever you find. Then, take advantage of some free time to browse in the Gold Parlor for fine jewelry and gold nuggets. The Gold Shack offers fresh-baked sweets (at your own expense) and gifts galore. You'll have time to purchase a snack and beverage (at your own expense) or just relax along the river enjoying the mountain views.
Your tour concludes as you reboard your motorcoach, a little bit richer after gold panning, for the short ride back to the ship.