skiing in fresh powder 3/9/09

Monday after iditarod start was good for a day off
and cross country skiing on the freshly used and powdered
Tour of Anchorage trail. 2 hours out was good for a back-recovery
ski and mexican food at taco king didn't disappoint.
~ mary anne, me and rosemary~ we didn't see any moose, bears
or wolves that attacked a friend's dog yesterday on the trail.

Iditarod 37 - ceremonial start in Anchorage 3/7/09

We had good conditions for the Iditarod's ceremonial start in Anchorage today. 1 degree above was okay for humans and almost cold enough for the dogs. It was clear with sunny skies all day and warmed up to the teens. Horizon Lines was a sponsor and staff had some fire pits going to make the party more fun.

Here's Cecilia and I about an hour before the first team came through.

We hung around with others talking, sledding, waiting. Some little kids got surprise snow machine rides on the nearby lake.

This year the southern route will be used to race from Anchorage to Nome. The race is around 1,000 miles. There are 25 checkpoints, mostly little villages where dog food, supplies, vets have flown into. The greatest distance is 90 miles, Ophir to Iditarod and Kaltag to Unalakleet. Every musher must take one 24 hour stop and two eight hour stops.

the view from the rear never changes

We chatted with musher #6 Allen Moore for a few minutes while the dogs got tangled up. We'll keep track of the mushers' progress to Nome.