While the historic trail was the original impetus for the race, Iditarod has since come to embody much of the mushing history of the state. While he never won the race he worked so hard to establish, Redington finished it 19 times, including his last run in 1997 when he was 80 years old. It was overgrown from disuse and required chopping trees and finding buried markers. To recreate the route, Redington and numerous volunteers painstakingly unearthed the original trail from Seward to Nome. “The trail was established to travel from village to village.” “The modus operandi of transportation was sled dogs for years and years and was how especially rural communities could not only survive but thrive,” said Rob Urbach, CEO of Iditarod. Supported by roadhouses spaced a day’s travel apart, freight mushers drove massive sleds loaded with supplies weighing over half a ton. It follows a winding historic trail tracing back to 1910, when as a freight and mail route it connected booming mining towns across interior Alaska. In Alaska, there is rural and there is off-the-road-system Bush village rural. While there are now other dog sled races across the world, the Iditarod remains the pinnacle, the dreamed-of and worked-for accomplishment for emerging mushers, the indication that they are serious in their pursuit of the sport. It is a testament to fortitude and resourcefulness, a singular accomplishment for any who complete its rigors. The Iditarod was the first race of its kind and it established Alaska as the mecca of long-distance dog racing. In addition, he wanted to preserve the historic Iditarod Trail, an early lifeline connecting villages across vast expanses of roadless Alaska. He envisioned that an epic, long-distance race like the Iditarod would reinvigorate the use of sled dogs. As the era of airplanes and snowmachines dawned in the state, the long run of dog mushing appeared to be coming to an end. The race began as the brainchild of Joe Redington, Sr., while he was working in a Unalakleet, Alaska fish hatchery. The whole adventure was about two hours and I can’t recommend it enough.On this first weekend in March, a culturally and historically rooted sporting event takes off for its 50 th anniversary in Cantwell, Alaska, as almost 50 mushers and their more than 650 dogs embark on a weeklong quest for Nome in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. All the groups did a stop for hot cocoa and a cookie before heading back. Dan + I rode on a snowmobile to get most of these shots. The morning trip took as a few miles into the quiet of the mountain. I would’ve gladly taken them all home with me. Some were quite friendly but most of them were just ready to run. The dogs! So many and each one so unique. We geared up in the warming house before all the regular guests started to arrive. It was a beautiful 20 minute drive up Lone Mountain Trail. This particular day we did a morning dog sledding adventure with Spirit of the North. My Minnesota heart couldn’t have been happier. It was my second time experiencing the historic ranch and this time we got to do all of the winter activities. ![]() I travel a lot as a wedding photographer but was most lucky a while back to shoot the winter season of commercial photography for Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Montana.
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