The Last Great Race- Saturday Ceremonial Start

A few weekends ago was the start of the Iditarod (#23 on the list). It was a big event 'round these parts. Lots of tourists. You can always tell the tourists because they are either 1. lacking appropriate cold weather clothing or 2. wearing brand new winter apparel, like they just had an REI shopping spree.

It is also so interesting that they call the Iditarod the "Last Great Race". It is 1,049 miles long. Another race, the Yukon Quest, is approximately 1,000 miles long. So, about the same distance. It is also important to know that the exact mileage changes each year because the route may change slightly. The Iditarod also has a Northern and a Southern route. During even numbered years, the mushers follow the Northern route and during odd-numbered years, they follow the Southern route.

On Saturday, there is a ceremonial start in Anchorage where the mushers ride only about 20 miles. The dogs that they use during this ceremonial start are not the same dogs that they will be using on the actual Iditarod trail. They just cannot risk their dogs getting hurt while they are basically just showing off for everyone who comes downtown to see them. All of the mushers have what is called an "Idita-rider" in their sled with them. Basically, this is a person who pays a lot of money to get to ride with the musher during the ceremonial start.

Lance Mackey and his Idita-Rider.

We actually showed up 2 hours before the start, so we could secure a spot of our choice right next to the starting line. We were actually standing right in front of where the news cameras were. The reporter interviewed the woman standing on the other side of Steven and some friends said they saw him on TV!! Steven was excited that we has finally reached celebrity status in Anchorage!!

There were many different people from many different places that were participating in this years race. There was someone from Jamaica, someone from Scotland (who wore a kilt while on his sled and had his dogs dressed out in plaid tartans), and a veteran named DeeDee Jonrowe who is a breast cancer survivor and almost 60 years old!! She had all of her dogs wearing pink little booties to keep the snow off of their feet. We were also cheering for Aliy Zirkle's team. On Friday night, we were coming out of the restaurant and at the hotel that is next door, people were getting their pictures made with the dogs. Although it is a little blurry, here is a picture of Steven and I with some real sled dogs!!!

Her team's Kennel has a website with lots of videos and information regarding dog mushing!! Check it out! It is a great educational resource for anyone wanting to learn about sled dogs!!

I want to leave you with a few more pictures from the ceremonial Iditarod start in Anchorage, Alaska!! Stay tuned for pictures from the official re-start in Willow, Alaska.

Scottish pups and Scottish musher.



Rebekah

This and That

Well, the summer is over in Anchorage...and it has been for a couple of weeks. The nice weather (the couple of days that were left) were surrounded by cold and rain. So, we haven't really taken any trips recently but we have done a few things around town.

A couple of weeks ago we FINALLY decided to climb Flattop (#35 on the list). The weather was nice and warm and we had the day free. The trail slowly eases uphill for the first part past Blueberry Hill (where you can pick berries) and then turns up some flights of wooden stairs built into the mountain. After about a mile you reach some benches which are the resting point before the final ascent. A lot of people turn back here, because this final part is more difficult. It is much steeper and quite rocky (some scrambling around boulders necessary), but we saw kids as young as 5 making the climb.

(view of Anchorage from part of the way up the trail)

By the time we got up to the top, some clouds had closed in on the side of the mountain destroying our view but it was still a nice hike that we will definitely do again.

From the top you can typically see down into Anchorage on one side, down into Potter's Marsh and part of Turnagain arm on another, and back into Chugach State Park from the other 2 sides which leads to some really cool views in all directions.

(you can see people scrapping up the beginning of the final ascent)

On another weekend we drove up to Eagle River and took the 10 mile trip back into Chugach State Park to the Eagle River Nature Center (#22).

There is a nice information center here with trail maps and information on animals, the park, and the history of the area in general. One of the main hikes is closed this time of year (it goes past the river which leads to bear-human problems) but we took a stroll down one of the short loop trails.

On this trail is a salmon viewing deck where you can look down into the pools of the river and see some Red and Chum Salmon.

They weren't huge fish, but some looked to be at least a few pounds.

The Nature Center is also a point on the Historic Iditarod Trail, which we already saw started down in Seward. It ran up from Seward through Girdwood and Chugach State Park, through the Nature Center and up from there. There is a hike from Girdwood to the Nature Center that goes along that path, but it is 24 miles long one-way.

Afterwards we drove the rest of the way up to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer (#63). Since it was a nice day we apparently weren't the only ones who had this idea as we waited in about an hour of traffic to get to the parking lot. The fair was like any other state fair with high prices, lots of food, and lots of country folks. Rebekah ordered a giant block of fried potato chips, which she only managed to eat about a third of.

We spent a few hours walking around and looking at the award winning vegetables, farm animals, and arts and crafts before we headed home. On the way back we stopped by the bluffs past Earthquake Park in Anchorage to get some pictures of the city from across the water.

The airport is right across the street, and as you can see a few planes flew right over our head while we were there.

Winter is almost here and soon we will be writing about skiing instead of hiking!


Steven

Playing Tour Guide

Rebekah's mom and sister were in town this week - so we decided to show them as much of Alaska as possible during their visit. This meant two day trips each longer than 10 hours, but it was worth it. Here comes a long post...

On Saturday we drove up to Hatcher Pass (#65) which was FINALLY open. After the mine the road becomes all dirt and gravel for about the next 20 miles. You make your way up from the mine and at the top you reach Summit Lake. As you can see, the lake is gorgeous...

and the view down into the valley below is also spectacular.

Hatcher Pass was definitely worth the wait.

Rebekah and I hiked up the side of one of the mountains for a better view (#67).

And Sarah and Hildy played in the snow.

On the way down from Hatcher Pass to Willow, we pulled off the side of the road to stop at Albino Hare Gallery - Garden and Gifts. They sell some lotion that is supposedly very good for dry skin and mosquito bites - but it is around $20 for a small jar. I opened one of the jars to take a peek and accidentally spilled about $4 worth on the floor. The lady working at the counter was thrilled, but was nice about it and helped me clean it up.

The gardens out back had many different types of flowers and we explored it for a little while. They were having a flower sale...but we don't want or need any right now.

After we got back on the main road we headed north to Denali to see if the mountain was out today. Unfortunately, as you can see from all the clouds around the mountain - it was not. This is what the vast majority of people who travel to Denali see. After this brief disappointment we turned around and drove the 3 hours home for dinner. We ate at Simon's and Seafort's, which is one of our favorite places in Anchorage and one of the best for seafood in the city. I even got Sarah to try Halibut! We finally got back to the apartment around 10 and went to bed to get ready for another long day...
We woke up pretty late in the morning and headed south to the Kenai Peninsula ...

and the town of Seward (#49).

We started by visiting the Alaska SeaLife Center (new entry #91). The center has lots of information, diagrams, and videos on the sea animals in the area...and of course many of the animals themselves.

Birds....

Sea Lions...

and Sea Otters. Getting to see the animals up close was really cool. They have behind the scenes tours that you can go on to get an even closer look. And once you pay to enter you can leave and reenter on the same day for free! This is really useful when it is raining outside - like it was on this day. Not much else to do around the small town of Seward (or Alaska for that matter) when it is raining out.

Afterwards we drove around the town and found the historic start of the Iditarod! It now has two starts: a ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage and the real start north of the city. One of the can't miss things to do in Anchorage during the winter is catch the start of this race - and one that we will definitely attend!

Next we drove over to Exit Glacier (new entry #92), which so far has been one of our favorite glaciers. It is very easy to get to and view - and you can hike right up to it.

The hike to the glacier is one of two you can do in Kenai Fjords National Park (#40). Hint - you may see details about the other hike in a not too distant post. Any other part of the over 700 square mile park has to be accessed by boat or air. The easiest way to do this is to take a glacier and wildlife cruise, which gives you access to more of the park and some wonderful sights. We plan on doing that sometime fairly soon as well.

Sarah and Hildy enjoyed seeing their first Alaskan glacier! The weekend went really well and we got to see a lot of Alaska - including a lot that Rebekah and I hadn't seen before. We enjoyed having Sarah and Hildy visit for a week and hope they come back and see us again soon!


Steven