We tried to get up early, as we had a long day and a long drive ahead, 350 miles to Fairbanks. We reached Willow, a small town about two hours from Anchorage at about 10AM. We had our Iditarod sleg dog tour scheduled at 11AM. But nice as they were, they let us do the ride with the 9AM group, and then have the explanation session later.
A few words about the Iditarod. Iditarod is an annual dog sled race in Alaska, inviting all mushers to participate and win lot of money. This happens in remembrance of the good old days when mailmen took their sleds from place to place distributing mail. This race started at Anchorage, and ended in Nome.
Initially I thought it was not such a big deal but many banks, and other companies do sponser mushers, just like any other race. We went to Dream a Dream Dog Farm in Willow which was run by a musher, who had participated in Iditarod many times, and won cups.
We had to put on a wet suit kind of a garment, which was optional, but since it had been drizzling, and we were going to go into the woods, we thought it was a good idea. Later we realized it was a great idea. Me and DH and the other couple looked like real mushers, with the suit and the boots and the caps. We saw retired huskies around the house, all waiting to be petted.
I love pets. I love cats, yes, but I love dogs even more. They are the most faithful of animals, we know, and I can particularly empathize with them. We went out to the kennels and there were about thirty huskies, mostly Alaskan and some Siberian, chained of course, but barking their heads off. They all wanted to be petted. When we neared them they tried to jump up on us, with their front paws on our chests, to be petted and cuddled.
DH was so scared. :--) This is because he has had some encounters with dogs in India, not good ones. Me on the other hand, though have been thoroughly scared of dogs in India, after looking at how dogs in America are well mannered, with excellent behavior, was not scared at all.
I somehow feel dogs can understand that they are not supposed to hurt human beings. Atleast the owner make sure their dogs understand that. I know some leave their kids with the dogs, and the dogs are so delicate with kids, I was sure we were safe with these dogs. These huskies they look like wolves. They are huge, but very athletic. They love running, they have been bred for running in cold temperatures. In fact their optimum throughput in races is in negative temperatures.
We saw the puppies, they were barely two months old. They were waiting to be let out of their enclosures. They all were so playful. I fell in love with them. They had so much energy, they were running around, curiously checking out everything on our way, fighting with each other, biting, barking. It was a merry crowd.
All the time the tour guide was telling us about the dogs, what kind of food they take, and how they are prepared for the big race, how much training they go through for months before the actual race.
Once we were back, the guide and her helper started tying selected dogs onto the long ropes in front of the jeep. We were going to go on a shot ride in the jeep with the dogs pulling. It is not a real sled, but still for summer this was more than enough.
Now, all the dogs wanted to go with us on the ride, so all of them started barking, it was deafening. It was as if all of them were shouting Pick me! Pick me! Ten of them were chosen, two leads and eight followers. They were only too eager to run, as fast as they can. It was work for them. They have been bred to run. We went on muddy road and then into the woods, on narrow pathways.
Once we finished the run, the dogs were fed fish again, it was a riot, unhooking them from the sled and tying them back to their kennels. Once that was done, we were back to the house, for the session about the Iditarod. We watched a short video on the race, and then the lady talked about race, it route, the number of days it took, the checkpoints, the bitter cold in which the mushers had to go, the breaks they had to take. The mushers had to carry the dog food and a first aid kit for the dogs with them. A cooker and oil to melt snow and make water to cook the food for the dogs. It was an interesting session, a look into the preparation that went into the race, the risks, the dangers.
Soon it was time to leave. It was about 1PM. My desire to have a dog increased even more.
We crossed Mat-Su Valley. It was very cloudy and was drizzling all along. It was a bummer, but given that it was a Valley with the Alaskan Range on either sides, it was not a surprise.
Our stomachs started grumbling. We drove to Talkeetna, had lunch, and it was 3PM by the time we left from there. A few miles after Talkeetna, before reaching Cantwell, our surroundings slowly changed, as we entered Denali Borough. It was beautiful with spruce trees, all around. I tried to locate Mt. McKinley , the tallest mountain in North America, also called Denali, in the horizon, but it was too cloudy. It was quite a bummer. Untamed wilderness, they call it.
Pictures and movies dont do justice to the beauty of this place. It has to be experienced, in my opinion. At one point, it was cloudy, and the road went winding in front of us, with an occasional car n the front or behind us, or on the opposite side, Low lying mountains sprung up as we drove, trees were a brilliant green, thanks to the rain, I would call it heavenly.
Soon we entered, and drove inside the Denali park, stopped by at Nenana River, which flowed through the park, another way to see the Park was on the river.
We reached Fairbanks at around 8:30-9:00. I liked my hotel instantly. It had fresh flowers hung outside, and inside had a gardeny look, in a bright green shade.
I had to click the notice board which gave the Sunrise and Sunset times, along with the temperature in Fairbanks. You see, one of my colleagues thought Alaska was cold all through the year. I had to take evidence to prove it was not the case.
Our room was cozy too, there was a cute little book about Alaska, which had facts and anecdotes about Alaska, pretty funny ones. There are only a couple I rememeber.
"You are in Alaska if you would not dare to tell your kids to back before dark in Summer."
"You are in Alaska if when you try to order something to ship, they go, " Alaska? Oh no we dont do international shipping"" :--))
Fairbanks being north to Anchorage, the sun sets at around 1AM in the morning and rises at 3:00AM. As you might have already seen in the board. ;--)
The hotel was in Fairbanks dowtown, close to Chenaya River. We had dinner at an Italian place very close by. The food was amazing, we had an Indian waiter. Did you know Alaska recruits people in Summer from all over to cater to the tourist crowd? ;--) This guy was from Bulgaria, studying Medicine, and was here in Alaska in Summer to make some money for his studies. They have valid Visa and all. I was surprised.
It was 11PM and we walked to downtown, and a little by the river, clicked pictures of the sun still in the horizon, like it was just evening. Our main topic of discussion was how the sun never sets in areas beyond the Arctic Circle. Like would the sun set in the west and also rise in the west? Like it would go down close to the horizon and then just backtrack its path? It was totally mystifying*. We took pictures with DH's watch, to show the time, initially, then I set the camera to show the time, so we could capture the midnight sun in all its glory. :--)
I wanted to stay up until atleast midnight, to take the signature picture of Alaska, the sun at midnight. We found a bank in downtown, which had a display of the time and the temperature. So precisely at midnight, there was still day light, so I wasnt scared at all, we went to the bank to take pictures underneath the display. Yeah! I saw the midnight sun!
We retired to our beds soon after tired from the days drive. I wanted to wake up early to see the sunrise also, but we had a long day ahead the next day and DH was totally against waking up at 3:30 in the middle of the night. :--)
* I did find the answer to this question the next day morning. Can anyone guess?
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