Spring Break in Fairbanks--Iditarod Start

In a typical year the Iditarod has two starts: the ceremonial start in Anchorage on the first Saturday of March, and the official restart in Willow.  There's nothing typical about this year though, so the official restart of the race was moved north to Fairbanks because there is literally no snow farther south.  Snow (slush) was trucked into Anchorage for the ceremonial start festivities, but there just wasn't enough for safe mushing from Willow.  The race has started in Fairbanks once before, in 2003.  We were so lucky to have already planned our annual Fairbanks spring break trip to fall on the day of the restart, March 9.  We were even more lucky to be invited to a friend of a friend's house right along the route to watch the mushers go by. There is just nothing like seeing those fully laden sleds race by!

One of the things that struck me as the teams mushed by is how friendly the mushers are.  Flip through the photos below and see how many smiling faces and waves there are!  They are truly grateful that people are out there watching and supporting them.  Even if temperatures that day barely rose above zero!  We had a blast...and they're having a blast too, doing what they love!