Skiing Through the Woods

Alaska Day 5
The race for me is over, my duties done, now I’m free to play (not that I haven’t been playing this whole time). I was pretty wiped out after all the excitement of the last few days, but I had this whole day in front of me, so I drove off to find the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum. I got more post cards and some stuffed animals for the menagerie back home. They also had a pretty interesting video on the “dogs of the Iditarod.” The production value left something to be desired, but I did learn that a dog in a city is 5000 times more likely to die prematurely than a sled dog on the trail. Good to know.

Snow began falling as I drove south back to Anchorage. The wind picked up and the roads were getting a little icy. Good thing I had the SUV. Once back in town and found the REI - what a haven! There’s a cross-country skiing section right inside the front door. $15 and 15 minutes later I left with a pair of rentals and a map of local trails. I was off to explore! I drove back out to where the drop-off from Saturday’s start had been at Campbell Field. There’s tons of parks and miles of ski trails all over Anchorage, but a lot of them are a little too close to the city for me. Campbell Field connects with a much larger park up against the mountains so I knew the place would be quiet.

I set out and immediately had the place to myself. It’s been over a year since I last skied, so it’s been way too long. I still had this mythic image of Alaska in my head, a land of unbelievable cold and harsh conditions, but it wasn’t long before I was peeling off layers like I was back in CA. The trails were great. It was an overcast day, the snow falling lightly, and I glided through birch forests all afternoon. I eventually saw a couple other people, but for the most part it was pretty empty out there - just the sound of my skis on the snow. Perfect.


After I exhausted my need to ski, I headed back into town and once again to the Millennium Hotel. I couldn’t get the race out of my head, and had to take another look at the Big Board to see how the mushers were doing. I sat in the lobby for a while soaking in the atmosphere, reluctant to leave. The hive of activity had calmed down a lot since the days before the race start, but there was still plenty going on. There were people waiting for the weather to clear so they could take chartered planes out to the check points. A couple from Michigan was waiting news on their favorite mushers from their home state.

Outside down by the frozen lake/landing strip were the dropped dogs - dogs that, for whatever reason, mushers had left at check points along the trail. The teams all started with 16 dogs, but there’s no telling which dogs will get sick, or won’t be pulling the way they should. Mushers are allowed to drop dogs at designated check points, where they’ll be taken care of and flown back to Anchorage. These poor animals looked a little dazed and confused without the rest of their teams. Vets would monitor them throughout the night to make sure they were doing OK.

I met fellow volunteer Scott, who was helping out with these dogs. We had talked about meeting for dinner, but I was pretty exhausted by this point and just needed sleep. He was off to another drop location anyway, so we headed our separate ways.

I ended the day back at my hotel in downtown, figuring out how to pack all my memories into one little bag. In the morning I’d be saying my goodbyes to Alaska and flying south.

Check out more photos here!