Tag Archives: Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

SEATTLE & ALASKA #10: ALASKA HERITAGE CENTER, ANCHORAGE & SEWARD

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Throughout our tour in Alaska, our tour leader, Julie, and bus driver, Bobby, shared a lot of interesting information about Alaska during our bus rides. Qualified residents, for example, receive an annual dividend from the Alaska pipeline amounting to about $1,000. To qualify, a resident must live in Alaska for two years. This dividend is much needed, because the cost of living in the state is very high, even though there is no state income or sales tax.

Our first stop of the day was at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, in Anchorage, where we learned about Alaska’s Indigenous cultures. The guided village tour was interesting, and I enjoyed watching the games demonstration, The exhibits in the museum were also excellent, so it was a worthwhile visit!

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Whale skeleton
Walrus ivory carving
These lamp shades are made from harbor seal hides, commercially dyed salmon skins, seal intestines, and thread.

Before continuing to Seward, we had a couple of hours to explore Anchorage on our own. A city of about 300,000 people, the downtown area was small enough to easily get around on foot, which we did after walking part of the Coastal Trail.

Although Anchorage has the typical sports teams you would expect in any city, such as baseball, basketball, and hockey; there is one unique sport that it is best known for: the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race begins in the city and covers a distance of 938 miles to Nome, which takes 8 to 15 days. Teams of between 12 to 16 dogs and their musher begin the race, but at least five of those dogs must be on the towline at the finish line. We learned a lot about the Iditarod when we visited four-time champion, Jeff King’s Husky Homestead, which I wrote about previously.

While walking through town, we saw the starting line as well as a mural with the names of all the Iditarod champions, including Jeff King:

Continuing to Seward, our group had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the marina in town. The skies had cleared, so we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful evening views while we dined. It was a wonderful way to end the day!

This shot was taken through the window of the restaurant to the fish cleaning station on the pier below. This little guy was enjoying the scraps thrown over by the fisherman.

Coming up next: SEATTLE & ALASKA #11: A GORGEOUS GLACIER CRUISE IN KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK

SEATTLE & ALASKA #6: DOUBLE DOG DAY IN DENALI

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Although we don’t have dogs, because we travel so much, we love them! The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has always amazed me, and I looked forward to learning all about it. But today was double dog day in Denali, so first things first!

First, we visited the Denali National Park Visitor Center where we had the option to catch a shuttle to see a demonstration of the husky dogs the National Park Service uses as working dogs in Denali. Heck yeah, count us in! We hopped on the first shuttle.

Denali is the only national park with a kennel of sled dogs. These huskies are a more reliable form of transportation to remote areas of the park in extreme sub-arctic conditions than an airplane or snowmobile. The dogs are adapted to cold temperatures down to -40 degrees, and they prefer being outside in the snow running rather than lounging around in a warm indoor setting. Besides, there is no problem starting their “motor” whereas a snowmobile can be finicky in those extreme temperatures.

The dogs assist rangers in everything from protecting the wilderness of Denali National Park to rescues. If equipment needs to be hauled in the sleds along with the rangers, the dogs will do it with enthusiasm. This is an excellent video about the training of the dogs and how they work as a team with the rangers.

Here are some of the dogs we got to meet:

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Following the demonstration, we returned to the visitor center where Bruce watched a couple of excellent films about the sled dogs and Denali, and I hiked the Spruce Forest Loop Trail and a portion of the Triple Lakes Trail. By the end of my hike, the clouds had started to clear and blue skies shined through. YES!

In the afternoon our group visited Husky Homestead, owned by Jeff King, four-time Iditarod race champion (1993, 1996, 1998, and 2006). His final win was at age 50, and he was the oldest musher to ever win the grueling 1,049-mile race. Husky Homestead is where he trains sled dogs, and it is open for tours and demonstrations.

Have you ever wondered how sled dogs are trained during the warmer months when there is no snow? Check out this short video clip I shot during the demonstration:

Fake snow; a humorous touch to the presentation on dog sleds and the Iditarod race!
A pup in training

Meeting the pups was the best part!

Sunny scenes from around our lodge:

Coming up next: SEATTLE & ALASKA #7: OUR FABULOUS, FANSTASTIC FLIGHT!