The Iditarod XXXVI - 2008
Lou says....
The big event! This was on our to-do list long before we ever knew we would be coming to Alaska for an entire year!
Unknown to us was the fact that the Iditarod is actually two separate events. The first is the Ceremonial Start held in Anchorage the first Saturday in March. The next day the mushers actually take to the trail during the Restart in Willow and mush over one thousand miles to the Finish Line under the burled arches in Nome. Willow is about one hundred miles north Anchorage and just this year was made the permanent official starting point. In past years the Restart was held in Anchorage, then moved to Wasilla and Willow due to the lack of snow.
The Ceremonial Start is for the spectators. They position themselves along an eleven mile Ceremonial Trail through Anchorage parks to get close up views of mushers and their sled dogs. If you wish, you can bid on a seat to ride along with your favorite musher. This year there were ninty-eight entries and the man at the bottom of the photo (left) paid between $500 and $1500 to ride the eleven miles with his musher. The money goes to help support the cost of the race. Val says "I want to do that"! So .....we are thinking of returning to see the Iditarod again next year.
Sunday morning we packed our suitcases and headed to Willow to spend a couple of hours at the Restart before taking a bush flight to a remote wilderness lodge, some sixty miles up the Iditarod Trail, to continue watching the mushers in the wilderness. (More on our wilderness lodge experience in the next issue)
We arrived in Willow just as the first musher was leaving the start chute. The place was jam packed! Spectators lined the start chute and the first mile of the trail five rows deep. I was ready to pack it in and give up thinking we could never get close enough to see the mushers let alone be able to take photos. Val insisted that we go ahead and fight the crowds and I am glad she did. We were able to nuzzle ourselves into a prime location where we were only five feet from the mushers as they passed by.
We had to leave for the airport before all the teams had left but all in all I got some pretty good photos and some stereo sound clips. Play sound clip now.
The big event! This was on our to-do list long before we ever knew we would be coming to Alaska for an entire year!
Unknown to us was the fact that the Iditarod is actually two separate events. The first is the Ceremonial Start held in Anchorage the first Saturday in March. The next day the mushers actually take to the trail during the Restart in Willow and mush over one thousand miles to the Finish Line under the burled arches in Nome. Willow is about one hundred miles north Anchorage and just this year was made the permanent official starting point. In past years the Restart was held in Anchorage, then moved to Wasilla and Willow due to the lack of snow.
The Ceremonial Start is for the spectators. They position themselves along an eleven mile Ceremonial Trail through Anchorage parks to get close up views of mushers and their sled dogs. If you wish, you can bid on a seat to ride along with your favorite musher. This year there were ninty-eight entries and the man at the bottom of the photo (left) paid between $500 and $1500 to ride the eleven miles with his musher. The money goes to help support the cost of the race. Val says "I want to do that"! So .....we are thinking of returning to see the Iditarod again next year.
Sunday morning we packed our suitcases and headed to Willow to spend a couple of hours at the Restart before taking a bush flight to a remote wilderness lodge, some sixty miles up the Iditarod Trail, to continue watching the mushers in the wilderness. (More on our wilderness lodge experience in the next issue)
We arrived in Willow just as the first musher was leaving the start chute. The place was jam packed! Spectators lined the start chute and the first mile of the trail five rows deep. I was ready to pack it in and give up thinking we could never get close enough to see the mushers let alone be able to take photos. Val insisted that we go ahead and fight the crowds and I am glad she did. We were able to nuzzle ourselves into a prime location where we were only five feet from the mushers as they passed by.
We had to leave for the airport before all the teams had left but all in all I got some pretty good photos and some stereo sound clips. Play sound clip now.
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Rookie Jennifer Freking from Finland MN with her lead dogs