Dear readers,

The Iditarod starts this weekend. This is the quintessential Alaskan event and something I look forward to following every year. Talk this year is of heavy snow and disappearing trail – volunteers have been out all week on snow machines trying to get a trail through the Alaska Range where heavy and frequent snowfall has made for a soft trail – which may disappear a week later. It may be a slow race, and mushers like my friend Ed Iten may be at an advantage with his bigger dogs that are used to breaking trail. You can keep up on the race at the Iditarod web site: www. Iditarod.com.

Meanwhile, closer to home, last weekend was Chistochina Fun Days. With a purse of $5000 this year, there was quite a pool of mushers for the adults 6 dog race. And with water on sections of the trail, they had to shorten the loop to 4.5 miles (instead of the usual 6). Sprint teams cover this length in eleven to twelve minutes. So with 16 teams entered, starting at one minute intervals, we had to run the event in three stages. The weather was perfect for a dog race; it was a fun and busy weekend. I’ve put the article about Fun Days from last year back on the main page; I hope to have some new pictures posted from this year’s activities by the end of the month.

Happy Trails,
Kimi

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Here's the latest article from the Alaska site at BellaOnline.com.

Best Burgers in Anchorage
If you’re looking for a place to grab a fast burger but want to avoid the fast food chains, try Arctic Roadrunner on the Old Seward Highway.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61012.asp

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Kimi Ross, Alaska Editor
http://alaska.bellaonline.com

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