Almost anytime you head to Alaska, it’s an adventure – even if it’s just seeing the stunning landscape process below, outside the window of your airplane.
Now, suspend disbelief, and imagine traversing that same landscape by sled, your only motive power a team of huskies and your own iron will. That sort of will, that sheer endurance, brought life-saving diphtheria serum to Nome in the dead of the winter of 1925. That’s when relays of sled dogs delivered the goods to a grateful population. Gunnar Kaasen, his team led by the iconic canine Balto, immortalized the cross-country trek in what’s remembered as the Great Race of Mercy.
Fast-forward to today, the echoes of that journey are loud and clear (if somewhat commercialized) in the 1,049-mile run we call Iditarod – self-proclaimed The Last Great Race®. Each year it draws the best mushers, the best dogs, and the heartiest spectators to this ruggedly beautiful land.
Over the years, dog drivers such as Doug Swingley, Martin Buser, Jeff King, Susan Butcher, and Rick Swenson have become the stuff of legend. Their dogs are just as revered, maybe more so. If man and beast haven’t exactly tamed the course, they’ve at least traversed it – and some have done so in astonishing sub-ten-day fashion.
This year’s Iditarod begins March 3, and it’s attracting adventurers the world over. The ceremonial send off for the race is Anchorage, an easy enough place to get to. The trail ‘twixt Willow (the official re-start point) and Nome is another matter. Terrain, whiteouts and the sheer audacity of this race test the mettle of drivers and animals alike.
If you can’t make it this year, and you’ve got the gumption to give the trip north a try, make plans for the 2013 Iditarod. If you admire adventurers, revel in the quest, The Last Great Race usually lives up to its billing.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Images: Alaskan Dude)
