June 20, 2015


We have found, and appreciated, the fact that the campgrounds usually become very quiet consistently around 11 PM, which is nice. Once we started using the blue tarp to help with the sun, we have actually slept well this trip.

Once again we packed up quietly and quickly and headed out. After a stop at Walmart where we picked up some fresh fruit and milk to go along with our oatmeal, we had a nice picnic breakfast in the parking lot and headed back to the Iditarod headquarters to see the sled dogs.

The sled dogs were a vital part of the Native Alaskan nomadic lifestyle as they either followed the game herds or the fish. They were so useful that their use was quickly adopted by the early settlers, gold diggers, and others who came to this land. Many of you are aware of the story of the medicine run that the Iditorod commemorates, and the fame of the one dog - Balto. As technology developed and sled dogs were replaced by snowmobiles, and the Natives lost more and more of their nomadic lifestyle, the importance of sled dogs waned. In 1917 Mt. McKinley National Park was established. In 1921 the first ranger for the park was hired, and he brought in a team of sled dogs to help in his patrol and upkeep of the park. To this day the sled dogs are extremely vital to the winter maintenance and upkeep of what is now called Denali National Park. The park is open in the Winter to sled dog teams, cross country skiers and snowshoers and so the park rangers patrol the park using the sled dogs.

In the late 1890’s and early 1900’s as gold seekers and other settlers moved in to this land called Alaska, a trail was developed that was used to bring in supplies, mail, and other general travel. This trail was vital to the settlement of a good bit of the inland area of Alaska. It was named the Iditarod Trail. Many of us are somewhat familiar with the famed race to Nome Alaska with the necessary serum to save the community from extinction due to diphtheria during the winter of 1925. A man by the name of Joe Redington Sr., and a lady named Dorothy Page joined forces to both preserve the history of the Iditarod Trail, and the sled dogs. They felt that a yearly race was just the way to do so. Thus Jo is known as the “Father of the Iditarod race”, and he went on to participate himself, with his last race happening in his 80th year. Also, to prove how incredible these dogs were, he did an expedition to the summit of Mt. McKinley with a sled dog team in 1979. While Joe has since passed away, the race and his legacy live on. This year's race actually had to be re-routed due to the lack of snow, and it ended up going through some of the Native villages, which was emotionally moving to many of the old people who remember the days of the sled dogs, and who have not seen sled dogs in many years. 

The dogs we had gone back to meet were set up and ready to go. As we arrived just as a tour bus was leaving, we had plenty of time with the owners to chat and learn more. Come to find out, the musher that was there this day with his dogs was Raymie Redington, a son of Joe Redington Sr. It was cool to meet him and his wife and learn a bit more about their passion for their teams. Some of you are fans of Alaska State Troopers and may remember an episode with two stolen dog sleds. The sleds that were stolen had belonged to Joe, and this son and wife were the ones to discover, report, and track down the stolen sleds. 

 

Many mushers actually live in the Willow and Wassilla area. As of Saturday morning, news of 8 mushers being burned out by the fire was being circulated. The dogs were all saved, though the mushers will have to start over, with both their homes and their sled dog supplies and needs. It remains to be seen if this will impact their ability to participate in the 2016 race.

Anyway, back to our travels....We enjoyed a sled dog ride, and hit the road once again. This time we scooted over to Palmer, where the Alaska State Fairgrounds are. We had heard there was an event there we wanted to check out. The event we went to see was called a "Flyball Competition". We had never heard of it ourselves, so I will try to explain it some. This basically is a dog relay race, with four dogs to a team. They run and jump a strip of hurdles, do a "swimmers turn" against a wall, which also releases a ball they are supposed to catch and take back to the start line. Once they cross the line, the next dog goes. It is incredibly fast and fun to watch. Meanwhile we also realized there was another event in a horse corral, so we wandered over there to see what was up and it was a Metal Detector Competition. Basically the participants were given a time and had to find as many items hidden in the dirt of the corral in that time limit. We spent about an hour or so watching the dogs and then decided to go grab lunch. 

While we did not take any pictures, we would recommend the restaurant we had lunch at. It is a busy place both locals and tourists seem to enjoy, right across from the fairgrounds in Palmer. The name of the place is The Noisy Goose, so if you go through there, check it out!  http://www.noisygoosecafe.com/

Then we headed down into Anchorage. We had heard of some other things to do in Anchorage and felt it would take two days there, and the hotel we had booked at was able to put us up a night early. Our first destination was to Merrill Field to see some aircraft there. Two of special interest were a DC3 and a Grumman Duck, however they were both parked along the fence on the side opposite the frontage road so we were not able to see them. Then we went on downtown where we had heard they were hosting special events in celebration of Summer Solstice and the Centennial year of the city of Anchorage. We walked around and enjoyed stopping at the booths of the local craftsmen, going in and out of the tourist shops, and just general people watching. Then we went and checked in to the hotel briefly and headed back to town for a free concert featuring Lonestar. It was very pleasant to sit on a hillside overlooking the train station and the river beyond and enjoying the music of both of the opening bands and then Lonestar.

A sort of comical note on the concert, Lonestar had wanted to use some lighting for added effect, as they typically do, but they were not quite as effective in the Land of the Midnight Sun, especially on the longest day of the year!