Stephen is in Alaska

Hi from Alaska,

Stephen went to visit a friend Dino, who lives in Wasila, Alaska. The first of competing races for the Iditarod was just happening. He got to see the sleds and the beautiful huskies, and their “mushers” or the guys that drive the sleds on a very long race across Alaska. Here’s the story about it:

The Iditarod Dog Sled Race

The Iditarod is a dog sled race that takes place every March in Alaska. It is sometimes called the "Last Great Race." Although the race is over 1150 miles long, the race is officially 1,049 miles, since Alaska is the 49th state in the USA . The Iditarod trail goes from Anchorage to Nome. There is a northern route and a southern route; these are used on alternate years (north in even-numbered years). The race starts on the first Saturday in March and takes about 10 days to complete. The winning musher (dog sled racer) takes home a large cash prize; the last musher to finish the race extinguishes (and wins) a red lantern at the finish line.

Hardy sled dogs pull the sled and musher (the name for the human guiding the sled) across frozen rivers, barren tundra, and steep mountains. Alaskan malamutes and Siberian huskies are two types of sled dogs that are often used on mushing teams (although other breeds are also on teams).

The first Iditarod race was run in 1973, on the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska by the USA from Russia. The dog sled race commemorates the "Great Race of Mercy," a real race against time that saved lives threatened by disease.

In February 1925, a diphtheria epidemic threatened the isolated city of Nome, Alaska (diphtheria is a contagious and potentially deadly disease that is now rare because of childhood vaccinations). The lives of many children in Nome were threatened by this terrible disease, especially those of the native Inuit children, who had no previous contact with diphtheria, and therefore, no immunity to it. The only way available to save the children was to transport the medicine 674 miles across land from Nenana (near Anchorage) to Nome, using dog sleds. Twenty teams of mushers and over 100 dogs delivered the medicine to Nome in about 5 1/2 days.

The lead dog of the final team of dogs was Balto (a Siberian husky), who became quite famous; the lead dog of the team that braved the toughest and longest part of the journey was called Togo. There are statues of Balto in Anchorage, Alaska, and in Central Park, NY, New York; a movie (called Balto) was made about the tortuous sled journey (but accounts of the race in the movie were not very accurate). Balto died on March 14, 1933 at the age of 14 (which is quite old for a dog), and is now mounted and on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (in Cleveland, Ohio).

The word Iditarod is comes from an Athabaskan Indian word pronounced "Hi-dit-a-rod." It means "a distant place."

Joe Reddington, son of the founder of the Iditarod

Vern Halter, winner of the Iditarod

Stephen and the team of huskies

Stephen making friends

One of the trainers with a Mad Hatter hat

Here are more pictures of the huskies, and Stephen participating in their preparation. Then he passed a moose on the way home, and then got to hang out by the fire cozying up to Scarlett, a most beautiful Huskie at the home of his friend who lives in a huge log cabin in Wasila.

So much fun and such a new experience!

Brendan’s Aunt,

Ramona

Stephen being lead dog on the gag line

Stephen on the sled resting up

Stephen with the team in their cages

Moose on the way home

Stephen bonding with Scarlett, her hostess