And they’re off! The Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage was yesterday, in a snow storm, appropriately. Lots of rookie mushers this year and a goodly number of women, along with six former race winners. Covid cancelled the start last year, so this one was very well attended. I really miss it, as we went every year and even volunteered one year. The noise and excitement of the dogs, and people enjoying this early harbinger of the coming spring was always a highlight of winter.
If you enjoy this sort of thing, you can follow the race and the racers at this website.
Those blue things - are those some type of dog-bootie?
Have they always been used?
Or have the dogs gotten wimpier? (sure, not too well-versed in this stuff)
Yes, they put booties on the dogs to keep their pads from icing up. They’ve been used for many years, especially for distance races. The dogs are well-cared for and there are veterinarians along the race route to check on their welfare.
Ah, thanks.
(would make for an interesting vacation, checkin it out.)
Check with @Bullitt (spelling?). He did exactly that (with some prompting from me) and had a great time.
Yes it was a great vacation! And @Chefguy was very helpful with tips and suggestions.
@Guest-starring_Id are you considering it?
20+ years ago, I used to see a great overview of the race that would air over multiple episodes once the race is over. They followed some racers, got some human interest stories. It was great. I wish to see one like that annually.
They should dedicate part of the race to Gary Paulsen this year. Winterdance is such a great book and is all about his running of the Iditarod.
One of the great places along the race route is Winterlake Lodge, where the Iditarod mushers pass through. We flew into this luxury lodge in the winter on a ski plane. The owner is a gourmet cook and the cabins are wonderful. We did some snowmachine riding, some cross-country skiing, and took dogsled rides (with some comical effect). I would imagine that it’s difficult to find reservations during the Iditarod, but it’s a great place to visit winter or summer.
Well, something I probably wouldn’t be able to convince the bloody SO to hop along with, but something that’s always caught my curiosty.
The Winterlake Lodge thing sounds pretty good.
The funny thing for me is that it was the SO who wanted to do this. It was her idea, and then I said Alaska in late winter? Sounds great!
I used to tell people who said they wanted to move to Alaska to spend a February in Fairbanks before deciding to do that.