Today’s Iron Dog course is over 2,000 miles, starting in Big Lake to Nome and finishing in Fairbanks, making it the World’s longest snowmobile race. Participants must traverse in some of Alaska’s the most remote and rugged terrain while confronting some the harshest winter conditions. Survival skills are essential, making it the World’s toughest snowmobile race. All teams in race classes are a team of two persons and two snowmobiles for safety. (from Iron Dog History)

The official start of the 2012 Iron Dog Pro Class Race began Sunday, February 19th at Big Lake approximately 1 mile from our vacation rental cabin in Big Lake, Alaska!

Planned community events for 2012 include:

• Family Fun Snowmachine Run by Big Lake Trails
• Kitty-Kat Races by Big Lake Aurora Lions Club
• Ice Skating at the Big Lake Lion’s Club Rec Center
• Eats available at the Boathouse Restaurant at the Sunset View Resort.
• Beer Garden by RumRunners
• Helicopter Rides by Jay Hawk Air
• Power-drawn Hay Wagon Rides by Big Lake Trails
• Iron Pup Race by AMMC – Sunday

The list included:

• The Galapagos
• Greece
• Egypt
• Japan
• Berlin
• New York City
• Hawaii
• Alaska
• Switzerland
• Cayman Islands

Did you catch that? Alaska! Our home away from home. Read an excerpt from USA Today.

…Alaska is enormous—it’s two times the size of Texas. [...] For an amazingly economical Alaska vacation, book a cruise during shoulder season. As of this publication, we spotted weeklong spring and fall Alaska cruises on our sister site Cruise Critic’s deals page on sale for as little as $569 per person…

I’d like to point out that an alternative, and one that allows you to get the feel of that which truly defines Alaska, is to find a “homebase” and plan excursions to the sites in Alaska which most interest you.

Cruise ships are nice but you are restricted to the “glamorous” coastal view. The sites in Alaska are only part of the adventure. Alaskans themselves have a spirit that cannot be quantified and is truly unique to Alaska. To see Alaska without spending time with Alaskans is like a BLT with no bread.

From a land-based perspective a vacation rental is ideal. Our cabin in Big Lake is near enough to Wasilla, Willow, Talkeetna, Denali, Anchorage and Portage Glacier to make all the sites of these destinations viable day trips. This gives you ample time to return for a BBQ on your personal balcony while enjoying the laid back beauty of Jade Lake.

A trip to the local grocery store to pick up those steaks & fresh salmon may not be as elegant as dinner with the captain, but maybe your goal is not to simply check “cruise” off your list.

Browse our Adventures and Places if you’re wondering whether you’d prefer a shopping trip in Ketchikan or a picnic at a gold mine followed by a stroll through an authentic early 1900′s Alaskan town.

But I do understand if maybe you just want to try your hand at some salmon fishing from the side of that cruise ship and call that “experiencing Alaska”.

Near Wasilla, the Alaska Excursions 120 saw an exciting field of entries with mushers from as far away as England, Brazil and New Zealand. They and several Iditarod and Yukon Quest veterans competed for $10,000 in prize money.

The first day’s fastest finish belonged to Ryan Redington, co-founder of the event and grandson of Joe Redington Sr., founder of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The second day of racing saw Redington’s team overtaken by the world champion sprint racer Blayne Streeper, whose Streeper Kennels is the only kennel in history to have won the World Triple Crown of mushing.

Race fans watching the Alaska Excursions 120 Facebook page were amused by a running commentary which included reports of Santa being on the trail (“…he may be DQ’d due to Prancer and Vixen not being on the official entry list…”) and then disappearing (“Report is that reindeer and sleigh tracks just… vanished.”), and one very unusual note about a musher being “shirtless, wearing only a bib… trying to confirm identity and… gender of said musher. Must be warm out.”

“In 1925, a life-or-death race to rescue the children of Nome, AK, from disease made an international hero of one sled dog – and eventually led to the creation of Alaska’s Iditarod sled dog race.”  (Quote from the inspiring story of hero sled dog Balto and his team’s thousand mile race: Sled Dogs: an Alaskan Epic – PBS)

Dog mushing was designated the official state sport of Alaska in 1972.

PHOTO FINISH (2010) — Paul Gebhard, left, crosses the finish line on the first day of the Alaska Excursions 120 sled dog race, followed by Ryan Redington, who won the race. Photo by Diana Haecker

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.
Louisa May Alcott
 
 

Quiet in the midst of quiet

For me part of learning how to sail mean times of solitude, times in which I can spend in quiet contemplation. 

That’s what this little piece of paradise up in the Alaskan north feels like to me. 

View of Jade Lake from our Big Lake cabin

Our Alaskan vacation rental 60 miles north of Anchorage

Tosa is big-boat best at Big Lake regatta

Published: September 6th, 2011 10:42 PM

Doug Tosa won the big-boat class and Tim Gould and Jodi Dingle took the small-boat class in the 45th annual Governor’s Cup Regatta over the weekend at Big Lake.

Small-boat class – 1); Tim Gould/Jodi Dingle, 2) tie, Geoff Wright, Anchorage, and Elayne Hunter, Anchorage.

Big-boat class – 1) Doug Tosa, Anchorage; 2) Bruce and Tina LaLonde, Anchorage; 3) Jeromy Reed, Anchorage.

I have never been afforded the opportunity to watch this.  I look forward to the day it is possible to be in Alaska while the regatta is going on.

Oh, for the fire on a cold winters night
Once more to gaze at the great northern lights
For all of the beauty my children will see
Here’s to Alaska and me
Here’s to Alaska, here’s to the people
Here’s to the wild and here’s to the free
Here’s to my life in a chosen country
Here’s to Alaska and me

A look from our front porch toward Jade Lake

This is the place our family longs to be. 

Our Thanksgiving Day was nowhere near the pure white  powder you see all around… but our hearts were.

What a blessing that we can share our home away from home with many others.  Big Lake, Alaska is the place to be this time of year!

Oh, for the fire on a cold winters night!

What to do?  I know what, let’s go to Portage Glacier!  The glacier is located about an hours drive south of Anchorage.   We would drive to Anchorage (about 90 minutes to the vicinity of the airport), make a few stops then head to the glacier.

We were not dissappointed, the drive thru Wasilla and past Eagle River and through Anchorage always has many sights and sometimes even a moose or two to gawk at.  South of Anchorage we drove on the Seward highway along Cook Inlet for about 48 miles, then turned inland.  Only a few more miles to go and we’re already getting chilly!!

Say "Big Blue Glacier!"

At the visitor center we secure passage on the mv Ptarmigan, the only boat operating on Portage Lake, and wait with warm drink in hand.

Once on the boat our experienced US Forest Service ranger proceeds to tell us the history of this glacier as well as educating us on the geology and glacial mechanics involved in an active glacier.  Top notch all the way!

As we chug across the lake to get up close and personal with this very blue ice we had the option of staying in the heavily windowed cabin area or heading topside into the blustery… might I say it – quite glacial, wind.

Now that's a glacier!

The boat stayed a few hundred yards away for safety but the binoculars brought us up close and personal.  Even from that distance we could hear ice cracking and creaking.

All hopes were to see some calving while the boat lingered for 30 minutes or so.  It was not to be.  The glacier itself was a rich blue in color.  A heavy contrast to the overcast, rain on and off again skies.

mv Ptarmigan at Portage Glacier in Alaska

Visit Portage Glacier Cruises website  to find out why this is such a popular attraction for Alaskans and non-Alaskans alike.

Fish head, fish head stew, fish heads looking back at you!

Don’t want no food
That comes from a can
And I don’t care if it’s catfood or spam
Gotta have real food
If I’m going to survive
It’s fish head stew that keeps me alive.
Fish head, fish head, fish head stew
Fish heads looking back at you
Makes me feel good thru and thru
Gotta have some fish head stew.
When I get home
Well I won’t be blue ’cause I can have
some fish head stew
and if you’d like
I’ll share some with you
Fish head, fish head, fish head stew.

The song is a reference to the high protein diet fed to the highly pampered sled dogs.   In this case it’s from Danger, the dog yard cat’s perspective.

This was no meal for the dogs.  It was a yummy treat for all.  Sorry about the blurry picture but it was a bit of a shock seeing those eyes staring back at me.

If you want to learn more about Danger’s affection for fish head stew, stop by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters in Wasilla which is only about 20 minutes from our cabin in Big Lake.

Rafting the Matanuska!

Would you believe rafting the runoff from a glacier?

Today we arranged for a Matanuska River Rafting tour.

We signed up for the “Lion Head Run” which tackles a short, fast stretch of whitewater where the Matanuska gets squeezed between rock and ice. During the 3½ hours on the water, we passed a get a great view of the 27-mile-long Matanuska Glacier, which presses the river up against the massive rock wall called Lion Head. Even the white of the whitewater is gray from glacial silt, and boulders deposited in the river by the glacier make the ride that much wilder. There were a few miles of Class IV rapids and 14 miles of Class III.

The yellow, teal and purple helmets in the front, paddling for all we’re worth, are us!

The tour began after an hour drive to Palmer and on to Chickaloon.  On the way we saw beautiful views of the Matanuska river and georgeous views of the Mat-Su valley and Chugach mountains.  Upon arrival we took a bus to the entry point, suited up in dry suits, and got our feet wet in a little tributary of the Matanuska, then off to the mighty Matanuska.

Our guide offered anyone a swim on the Matanuska’s 37 degree water as we passed the glacier.  None of our party of 8 was daring enough but another group had one taker.

My wife and daughter could have taken those class IV rapids all day.  Above the roar of the river all I could hear was…

 More! More!

Big Lake to Matanuska river entry around Glacier View, Alaska
Click here to see on a larger map

The zoo says that more than half the animals came to the zoo because they were injured, abandoned or orphaned. The animal habitats felt very comfortable in the surrounding area. Most zoos are associated with major cities and almost all seem like an amuzement park, an artificial environment created to “feel” right.

The Alaska Zoo feels at home in Alaska.

Black bear at the Alaska Zoo

Our friend the polar bear was obviously quite content as well. The temperature was in the 60′s overcast and generally Alaskan coastal climate.

..after a long day's work

Is dinner served?

More than one of the guests was taking it easy.

The zoo is laid out like a meandering walk through the woods. This seems quite natural as many of the inhabitants are native to that woods-like environment.

If you enjoy small community zoos or have kids this is the place to go.  It is only minutes from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.