Seward, Alaska (Miles to Date: 28350)
After spending Tuesday all at sea we decided to focus our last few days in Steward on terra firma. Since arriving in Alaska and Emily finding out about the existence of kennels for dog sledding huskies that were open to the public we had been pressurised into visiting one of these establishments. Luckily enough one such place existed close to Seward. Despite this being summer and the snow being long gone this tour also promised us a sled ride – how could we turn down this opportunity. So on Wednesday off we set to the “Iditaride” Dog Sled tour.
Dog sledding is a big winter sport here in Alaska and the blue riband event of the sledding world is the Iditarod, the largest sporting event in Alaska (which is not saying too much). The official website of this annual event best describes it:
“A race over 1,150 miles of the most extreme and beautiful terrain known to man: across mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and windswept coastline”
Today the event starts in Anchorage before heading off into the vast Alaskan interior and finally ends up in the remote North Western coastal town of Nome. Amazingly the current fastest winning time record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser with a time of 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. Wow!
The race is named after the town of Iditarod, which was an Athabaskan village before becoming the centre of the Inland Empire's Iditarod Mining District in 1910, and then turning into a ghost town at the end of the local gold rush. The name Iditarod may be derived from the Athabaskan haiditarod, meaning "far distant place". The event in part is a tribute to the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy." A diphtheria epidemic threatened Nome, especially the Inuit children who had no immunity to the "white man's disease," and the nearest quantity of antitoxin was in Anchorage. Since the two available planes were both dismantled and had never been flown in the winter, Governor Scott Bone approved a safer route. The 20-pound (9 kg) cylinder of serum was sent by train 298 miles (480 km) from the southern port of Seward to Nenana, where it was passed just before midnight on January 27 to the first of twenty mushers and more than 100 dogs who relayed the package 674 miles (1,085 km) from Nenana to Nome. The dogs ran in relays, with no dog running over 100 miles (160 km).
Anyway back to our tour! The kennels is operated by the Seavey family and multi-generation dog mushing industry. In 2004 Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod and continues to participate along with his three sons. Our first stop on the tour is to see the dogs. They have some 90 huskies at this particular kennels, they are all chained to a stake just far enough apart from them not to reach each other. Their only shelter is a small plastic kennel which they can barely fit into. Karen and Emily are pretty shocked by these conditions, especially when you realise these dogs live out here even through the harsh Alaskan winters. We are told the dogs are friendly, although the sight of us has got them all of a quiver as they know our arrival means some will be going out on a run. These dogs do not like most people’s vision of a husky. They are skinny, wiry dogs of various shapes, colours and sizes; bred for racing. We are told the husky is a mutt – a mixture of dogs aimed at breeding the perfect sled pulling beast. After the initial shock 
of all this we go over and start petting and fussing some of the dogs and they are indeed friendly. Next up is the sled ride. Eight of us climb aboard what can best be described as a metal framed cart – with wheels instead of runners. We sit and watch as the handlers untie 14 of the dogs and hitch them to harnesses on the front of our cart. The back of the cart is tied to a large post to stop us being pulled away before our musher is ready. Our young guide/ musher unties the cart and after a couple of simple instructions off we head. The tour is around 20 minutes long but is punctuated by stops so the dogs don’t overheat – this balmy weather is too hot for these guys they prefer minus 40. Along route we get told about the basics of mushing. All too soon we are back.
Next stop on our tour is the breeding kennels where they have a litter of small puppies and some a few weeks older. We are introduced to Danny Seavey – one of Mitch Seavey’s sons. Emily is in her element as we are allowed to pick up and cuddle the smaller pups and go into the kennel and frolic with the older ones. Also here are a couple of Melamute’s. These dogs look more like the traditional image of huskies, hairy rounded faces, powerful features – real beasts of burden. Apparently these dogs are strong and great for pulling big loads but are too slow for racing. Our final stop is a lean to building where we are shown a video about dog sledding and our young musher friend shows us some of the essential equipment used in racing; from the sleds to 
clothing to food. This is a hands on demonstration so Jack and Emily are willing volunteers to dress up in clothing to preserve life at frigid temperatures at minus 40 and lower.
Despite being saddened but the apparent harsh conditions in which the dogs are kept (we are assured this is the norm) we had a wonderful time and learnt a lot about a sport about which we had no idea.
After spending Tuesday all at sea we decided to focus our last few days in Steward on terra firma. Since arriving in Alaska and Emily finding out about the existence of kennels for dog sledding huskies that were open to the public we had been pressurised into visiting one of these establishments. Luckily enough one such place existed close to Seward. Despite this being summer and the snow being long gone this tour also promised us a sled ride – how could we turn down this opportunity. So on Wednesday off we set to the “Iditaride” Dog Sled tour.
Dog sledding is a big winter sport here in Alaska and the blue riband event of the sledding world is the Iditarod, the largest sporting event in Alaska (which is not saying too much). The official website of this annual event best describes it:
“A race over 1,150 miles of the most extreme and beautiful terrain known to man: across mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and windswept coastline”
Today the event starts in Anchorage before heading off into the vast Alaskan interior and finally ends up in the remote North Western coastal town of Nome. Amazingly the current fastest winning time record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser with a time of 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. Wow!
The race is named after the town of Iditarod, which was an Athabaskan village before becoming the centre of the Inland Empire's Iditarod Mining District in 1910, and then turning into a ghost town at the end of the local gold rush. The name Iditarod may be derived from the Athabaskan haiditarod, meaning "far distant place". The event in part is a tribute to the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy." A diphtheria epidemic threatened Nome, especially the Inuit children who had no immunity to the "white man's disease," and the nearest quantity of antitoxin was in Anchorage. Since the two available planes were both dismantled and had never been flown in the winter, Governor Scott Bone approved a safer route. The 20-pound (9 kg) cylinder of serum was sent by train 298 miles (480 km) from the southern port of Seward to Nenana, where it was passed just before midnight on January 27 to the first of twenty mushers and more than 100 dogs who relayed the package 674 miles (1,085 km) from Nenana to Nome. The dogs ran in relays, with no dog running over 100 miles (160 km).
Anyway back to our tour! The kennels is operated by the Seavey family and multi-generation dog mushing industry. In 2004 Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod and continues to participate along with his three sons. Our first stop on the tour is to see the dogs. They have some 90 huskies at this particular kennels, they are all chained to a stake just far enough apart from them not to reach each other. Their only shelter is a small plastic kennel which they can barely fit into. Karen and Emily are pretty shocked by these conditions, especially when you realise these dogs live out here even through the harsh Alaskan winters. We are told the dogs are friendly, although the sight of us has got them all of a quiver as they know our arrival means some will be going out on a run. These dogs do not like most people’s vision of a husky. They are skinny, wiry dogs of various shapes, colours and sizes; bred for racing. We are told the husky is a mutt – a mixture of dogs aimed at breeding the perfect sled pulling beast. After the initial shock 
of all this we go over and start petting and fussing some of the dogs and they are indeed friendly. Next up is the sled ride. Eight of us climb aboard what can best be described as a metal framed cart – with wheels instead of runners. We sit and watch as the handlers untie 14 of the dogs and hitch them to harnesses on the front of our cart. The back of the cart is tied to a large post to stop us being pulled away before our musher is ready. Our young guide/ musher unties the cart and after a couple of simple instructions off we head. The tour is around 20 minutes long but is punctuated by stops so the dogs don’t overheat – this balmy weather is too hot for these guys they prefer minus 40. Along route we get told about the basics of mushing. All too soon we are back.
Next stop on our tour is the breeding kennels where they have a litter of small puppies and some a few weeks older. We are introduced to Danny Seavey – one of Mitch Seavey’s sons. Emily is in her element as we are allowed to pick up and cuddle the smaller pups and go into the kennel and frolic with the older ones. Also here are a couple of Melamute’s. These dogs look more like the traditional image of huskies, hairy rounded faces, powerful features – real beasts of burden. Apparently these dogs are strong and great for pulling big loads but are too slow for racing. Our final stop is a lean to building where we are shown a video about dog sledding and our young musher friend shows us some of the essential equipment used in racing; from the sleds to 
clothing to food. This is a hands on demonstration so Jack and Emily are willing volunteers to dress up in clothing to preserve life at frigid temperatures at minus 40 and lower.Despite being saddened but the apparent harsh conditions in which the dogs are kept (we are assured this is the norm) we had a wonderful time and learnt a lot about a sport about which we had no idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment