Hike! Hike!

Another day of dog mushing! Today i made my way to the northern end of Fairbanks for the Limited North American Championship at Mushers Field. While there i witnessed 2 dog skijoring, 4, 6, and 8 dog sled teams. It was all sprint racing, ranging from 4.5 miles for skijoring up to 10.6 miles for the 8 dog teams. It was the nicest day since i've been in Fairbanks, temp was in the single digits but the sky turned nearly cloudless in he afternoon! What a fun day! I've got some pics and video from the day. A couple 8 dog teams in action, 2 dog skijoring, a post race snack, the lodge and a couple different dog transports. I also got a tip on a kennel that might need some help. In the next couple of days i'm going to look into that and see if it leads anywhere. For the time being i'm pretty comfortable here at the Hostel but if i find a job right away that's fantastic.

Billie's Backpackers Hostel

Made the move to a Hostel today. I wish i would have come across this place before i booked a hotel by the airport. The hotel room was nice, really nice, but to expensive. Within a couple minutes of being at Billie's i already had some leads on finding a little cabin of my own. I have high hopes that something will come up soon. Their are quite a handful of people staying here at the Hostel. That's something that i hope will work in my favor. Being able to mingle with people here for the same reason will be a great learning experience. The Hostel is a few more miles into Fairbanks just down the road from the local college, UAF. Also just down the street is an outdoor store similar to Midwest Mountaineering, with bikes. Prices there aren't bad. Freeze dried Mountain House is $6.50 a bag, the same as REI in Minnesota!Looks like i found my outdoor outfitter. I've also located some areas with local postings so i don't have to rely on just the internet now. I'm sure i'm going to be staying at the Hostel for at least a few days if not longer. A least it's fairly cheep. Tomorrow i might make my may into the downtown area and get more of a lay of the land. I'll have some more pics of the area soon.

Fairbanks

Well i've been in Fairbanks a couple of days and don't have too much to report. I've been staying in a hotel pretty close to the airport on the west side of town. Tomorrow i'm heading to a Hostel located more in the center of Fairbanks. Staying there i'm hoping to connect a little more with what's going on around town instead of just relying on the internet. I've made a couple trips to the local superstore Fred Meyers, kinda like a Walmart. It's a couple miles from where i'm staying now, pretty much the closest store. The prices aren't as bad as i thought they be. I've also noticed gas costs about $3.25 a gallon, glad i'm not driving. Down the from the Hotel where i'm staying they have a few river boats tied up for the winter season. They are named the Discovery I, Discovery II and Discovery III. They are tour boats that cruise the Chena river in the summer months. Maybe a job there, we'll see. As far as the weather goes it's still winter here. I think yesterday it got to 20 below. Hoping to get out on my snowshoes in the next couple days instead of just walking along the streets.

Race day!

At 10am saturday morning the first dog team left from 4th ave in downtown Anchorage. Saturdays event is pretty much just a parade for the race fans and no official time is kept. You will see in the pictures that teams were only running 12 dogs and towing an extra sled. This is meant to keep the speed down so everyone can get pictures and a good look at their favorite musher. The route through Anchorage began a few blocks from the hotel i was staying at on 4th ave. then made a turn on Cordova right in front of my hotel window! The streets were clear of snow until about 8pm friday night, when the city began hauling in dump truck after dump truck of snow that was then grated for a nice sled trail through the heart of downtown Anchorage. After a few miles on city streets they then took nicely groomed bike trails to Eagle River, a town to the east of Anchorage then loaded up the dogs in their trucks and hauled them to Willow for the official start of the race at 2pm sunday. I had a lot of fun seeing all of the teams i have come to recognize from t.v. coverage every year. If you would like to follow the race as i am going to do check out http://www.iditarod.com/ lots of info there.

Well i'm up in Fairbanks now, took a nice 45min. flight from Anchorage this morning. Finally got to see the Alaska Range and Denali!! It sounds like i'll have a good opportunity to see the Northern Lights here in Fairbanks, can't wait! I'm staying in a hotel really close to the Chena river that runs the center of Fairbanks for a few days. And in that time i'm hoping to secure a more permanent residence.

Big day tomorrow!

I ran into a musher participating in Iditarod today. I saw him get out of a truck with all of his dogs kenneled up in the back. We were both going into REI at the same time. I would like to say i've always thought mushers looked like the nicest people. As i approached the front door of the store he waited for me and the opened the door for me. I thought i'd strike up a conversation, asking first if he was here to race? He said yep, he has traveled here from Idaho with his dogs, but was originally from Wisconsin. I told him i was from Minnesota and here to see the the race, he was very thrilled! He thanked me so much for being here. I also found out that he'd flown up with his dogs and is using his sisters truck that lives here in Alaska. Wow, imagine the cost of that plane ticket! He said that he has driven up here before but it's a major pain in the ass. We talked for a couple minutes then shook hands and went our separate ways. While i was in REI i wanted to check out the "SPOT" device. A beacon and emergency transmitter about the size of a digital camera. I found out that they had been recalled to repair something internally and wouldn't be available until later this month. That would explain why i couldn't find one a the REI back home. I hope i'll be able to come across one when i'm in the Fairbanks area. With it you should be able to track my position on the net, when i am unable to stay in contact by phone and/or internet.

Today i have a pic from my hotel room here in Anchorage. In the foreground to the right of the green building is 4th ave. The street the Iditarod starts on! There are no parking and road closed signs sitting everywhere waiting to be put into action. They will truck in snow to cover the street all the way through town! I'm not sure when but i'm keeping my eyes peeled. Also in the background is Mt. Susitna about 35 miles away across the Cook Inlet. Just a 4400ft. peak but still a beautiful sight to see out my window.

A stroll around Anchorage

I took a few hours today to walk around town and see the sights. I made my way down to the Knik Arm coastline. There is a fantastic path, that is groomed for skiers, right on the coast. Then took another path that cuts right through the center of Anchorage. While at the James Cook monument i met a young guy from Japan that came to see the Iditarod as well. Battling through a language barrier i discovered he came here with no plan but was going to try to make it down to the Kenai Peninsula, but wasn't sure how to get there. He asked if you could hitchhike in this country. I explained how to get a ride by holding out your hand with your thumb up, i think he got the idea. He took a picture of the two of us together which i thought was pretty cool. Here are some pics starting at the James Cook monument and of the Knik Arm. Then of the Cook inlet and onto Westchester lagoon with the Chugach mountains in the background. Sorry the order of the pics is bottom to top.

First Impression

After a flight delay in Minneapolis and playing musicial gates, i got to Seattle. I had enough time to grab a bite to eat then board the plane to Anchorage. To get to the hotel i used a shuttle bus. I was the only passenger so we got to chat. I told him my story and he said "yea, you can do that." After checking in i wanted to have a look around. After a stop at gas station for some goods, just strolling down the sidewalk, there was a dog team. A musher feeding his dogs in some random parking lot in Anchorage. I feel at home already.