Okay it’s a bit late as the Iditarod is long over, but I wanted to post a few shots of our Iditarod tailgate party.
The ceremonial start of the race takes place in downtown anchorage. This used to be the start of the actual race but having the race begin in Anchorage was problematic so the official start point was shifted to Willow. The ceremonial start is now just for the TV cameras.
The next day all the teams reassemble at the start near Willow and things get under way for real.
There are lots of places near the start where the race route is accessible as it crosses several frozen lakes and makes its way into the more remote bush.
Lots of folks set up along the first mile or so and make a party of it. Setups range from elaborate digs with big sponsor tents and BBQ grills to small knots of people huddled around tiny fires.
A lot of people set up in the middle of the lakes but it’s cold and windy out there so our group found a nice spot nestled in some trees and well out of the wind.
A stack of old pallets formed the base for a pretty huge bonfire. Some one brought along a deep fryer and we cooked up not one but two turkeys. Great eatin out in the cold let me tell ya. Finger licken good!
But of course the reason we were there was to cheer on and encourage the mushers as they headed out on the trail to Nome. We had a list of the mushers so we were able to identify the teams as they approached. Calling out the mushers by name was a nice personal touch.
It took a few hours for all the teams to go by… including a Jamaican musher. Wonder if he knew the guys from the Jamaican bobsled team. I just hope they weren’t Jamaican dogs.
We all had a great time cheering them on, eating hot turkey and drinking cold beer. It was just about getting dark when we finally packed it all up and made our way back to the cabin. My friend and I got a little bit lost errr… turned around on the way back. Too many trails and all those lakes look alike. But finally we made it back to the cabin.
I’ll definitely be back out there next year.
