Running of the Reindeer

Check out around 1:57. Look for the guy with the red jacket and batman mask.


Last weekend was the ceremonial start of the Iditarod, but more importantly it was the 5th annual Running of the Reindeer. Feeling particularly adventurous since moving to Alaska, I decided it would be a great idea to run with a bunch of costumed people while being chased by animals with extremely pointy antlers. What could go wrong? As it turns out, the hardest part of the whole event was actually running 3 blocks in deep snow. The reindeer turned out to be rather tame - they'd rather run around you than over. Not that I'm complaining. They are also extremely fast. By the time I noticed there was a reindeer close for me to pet, it was bolting down the street.

Thrill of the Knight

In order to fit it with the crowd, I decided to make myself a costume. Using several rolls of red and black duct tape I made a Michael Jackson-esque Thriller jacket and a batman mask. Not that they really fit together, but I thought it'd be fun. Turns out, as much as I liked my liked my costume, duct tape is a terrible insulator. It was cold and snowing! I made out better than other though, like the guy who showed up wearing only boots and a pair of daisy-dukes.

The unicorn was dancing with a cow

Wouldn't be an Alaskan even without a husky

Pretty cool spot to watch the start

Earlier in the day, Kelly and went over to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. Thanks to my company's work with Exxon, I snagged a couple passes to the Exxon hospitality sweet. We had a nice spread of breakfast burritos, cake, cookie, coffee, and or course, smoked salmon. We had a great view of the start line and saw some of our favorite mushers go by. We popped in and out of the suite - it was really hot in there - and we could get front row view from the street. The Iditarod has been on for almost a week now. Mushers are passed the halfway point and should be finishing up in a few days.

The mushers have a good time with the ceremonial start too

Come Haw!

Day 2 started at Arctic Arrow Kennels passed Wasilla, on the way to Willow. Not only do the folks at Arctic Arrow kennels keep sled dogs, but they have a number of Icelandic horses. The horses get a pretty impressive winter coat. Kelly hit it off with the owners and secured herself an invited back over the summer to ride the horses. Before we were allowed to go mushing, we had to do some chores.

Changing out the straw in the dog's house

Our class got broken up into groups and given jobs. One group fed the dogs, another gave them water, the third group had to pick up the poop, while we were responsible for changing the straw in each dog house. I thought we were getting off easy, turns out I was wrong. All but one of dog houses had a removable roof. The one in the picture above, did not. Most of the straw we had to change was wet, frozen, and smelled a bit ripe.  Ah well, not a bad price to pay to ride a dogsled.

Talking shop

After taking care of the dogs we visited the sled shop. Bernie, pictured above, makes sleds for Iditarod racers. He's made winning sleds for mushing starts like Lance Mackey. Bernie has a pretty sweet set up in his shop. He molds and laminates each runner and assembles the sled in the shop. He was working on one for the winner of the Jr. Iditarod. Bernie's wife, Jeanette (our teacher) puts the sled bag and basket together. Sleds aren't cheap. The one for the Jr. Iditarod winner would retail for close to $2,000.

Practicing with the Iron Dog

Finally, after chores, and shop class, it was time to ride. Jeanette and Bernie though it would be a good idea to take a practice ride tethered to a snow machine. It turned out to be a good idea, more than a few people fell off. Had the dogs been attached, they would've run away, dragging an empty sled behind them. To be fair, Bernie wasn't the smoothest driver and jerked half the class right off their sleds.

Aftermath of falling off the dog sled

I lucked out with a smooth ride

I took my turn, and then it was time to ride. Bernie and Jeanette brought out some of their dogs. Jamiee Kinzer, an 2012 Iditarod musher, brought some of Deedee Jonrowe's retired dogs and a few puppies to help round out our team. There were 16 dogs, giving us 4 sleds with 4 dogs each. Getting the dogs on the sleds was an adventure. They were so excited that when we walked them to the sled, they were basically walking on their hind legs. 

Hello!

Got my best side

Mushing with 4 dogs pulls you along at a pretty good pace. They were much smoother than the snow machine, but tended to wander a bit. The trail we followed around the lake was fairly narrow and the snow on either side was really deep. A few times the dogs went into the deep snow and almost pulled the sled off the trail. The dogs recovered quickly and I didn't have to worry about breaking a new trial, or falling off.  Kelly got the last ride of the day. The dogs were a bit winded by then, but still got her around a good pace. By the end of the day, we were pretty beat. It was a long weekend, but filled with awesome experiences. Hopefully we get to mush again one day.

Kelly's turn

Riding off into the sunset