Winter Anchorage

A musher and his dogs take off for the start of Iditarod

Last weekend Brad and I went to Anchorage for a much needed time away from South East Alaska.  That Saturday was also the ceremonial start of the Iditarod dog sled race and we thought that would be a neat event to see.  In addition to Iditarod, we enjoyed a walk on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, some Fur Rondy events, moose sightings, and more.

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is a 11-mile stretch of paved trail running from downtown Anchorage South along the coast.  It is a multi-use trail and in the winter, cross-country skiing is very popular.  We saw runners and dog walkers too. We walked about a mile up to Westchester Lagoon, which is a great area for skating in winter. 

Westchester Lagoon is a skater's heaven in winter

Moose Sightings

Seeing moose wasn't exactly on our agenda, but we saw our first while walking along 4th Street in downtown.  Apparently they are fairly common in Anchorage and the surrounds.  We also saw a moose chilling in the snow right next to the coastal trail. 



Iditarod - The Last Great Race (History)

The Iditarod sled dog race was established in 1973 to save the dog sled culture and Alaskan Huskies.  Historically, dog sleds were used widely in transportation around Alaska, particularly in the Native villages. The Iditarod trail is a reconstruction of the freight route to Nome, and the mushers must travel from checkpoint to checkpoint as they did back then.
The race began this year with a ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage on March 3rd.  On the following day there is a restart in Willow.  The mushers and their dogs will travel to Nome, which is about 975 miles from Anchorage. 

There are several other dog sled races in Alaska, but Iditarod is probably the most popular one. Dog sled races are also held outside Alaska, including other countries, but Alaska remains the world mecca for dog sledding.

Iditarod - Ceremonial Start

Dogs waiting by their kennel

We only had a weekend in Anchorage, so we only caught the ceremonial start, which begins at 1000 on 4th and D.  We got to 4th Street right around 9 and realized we were behind the Start line.  We saw a few dogs and their mushers waiting next to their mobile kennels.  It wasn't quite what we expected.  We both thought there would be a frezy of dogs everywhere, but it was a bit more organized than that.  Each team of dogs were spread apart, and each dog in a team were usually separated from each other also.  After walking down the street some we ended up with a spot right behind the Start line along the fence.  We almost thought we had a great place to view the race from, until all of the VIPs who were allowed inside the fence started blocking the view.  We moved on past the Start line on 4th and eventually found a spot along the fence after pushing some kids away (just kidding - they were already leaving).  When the race started, each musher got an intro before taking off.  There were 66 racers total, and a team took off in intervals of two minutes.  This was also unexpected, as we thought all teams would take off at once.  If you think about it thought, that would probably just lead to a tangled mess of dogs and sleds. 

Excited doggies rearing to go

We watched several teams taking off before we started getting cold and deciding we had enough for time being.  Having our hotel nearby at the Westmark was pretty convenient since we could just pop in to warm up and rest when needed.  We went back out again to join the festivities and had a reindeer sausage for lunch (it was yummy). 

Fur Rondy

Fur Rondy is Alaska's annual winter festival that runs the week before Iditarod.  We were in town only for the last couple of days of it, so we didn't see much.  We saw the snow sculptures from the competition (and ice sculptures from a competition back in January).  Unfortunately some time has elapsed since they were first carved so the sculputres had all been weathered down a lot.  Probably the most interesting event we caught was the Running of the Reindeers.  This is Alaska's version of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.  Runners here dress up in costumes though, which help make it more interesting.  Btw, our celebrity sighting of the day was Bristol Palin.

The women's heat taking off...

... and the reindeers running after them.

Japanese Restaurant

Aside from checking out the events and walking around town, we also did some dining and shopping.  There's a proper Simon's mall on 5th Street in downtown.  Although I went with a half-empty suitcase, I was a bit disappointed to realize there's really nothing I need from a 'mall'.  The clothes I wear these days aren't fashion items of any sorts.  For food, my favorite place to eat was Kumagoro's Japanese Restaurant on 4th Street.  You can't get decent Japanese food in Juneau, so I was really glad to find this place.  Their sushi was fresh and tasty, and they offered variety of other Japanese dishes.  I also had miso ramen one day and ice cream with red bean for desert.  Their prices aren't cheeap, but is comparable to other restaurants in town.  One sushi place I really disliked was Urban Sushi Spot.  They took 2 hours to deliver to our hotel around the block, and the sushi was tasteless and the rice was hard.

The Visitors Centers



There are two official visitors centers in downtown Anchorage, both right across from each other on 4th Street.  One is in a small log cabin (above) and only has a few brochures.  The other is in the Federal Building and requires going through security to get in, but well worth the visit.  They have much more information there and have a small exhibit on Alaska wildlife and culture.  They also show short films that give you some history of Alaska.  I saw one on Alaska's wildlife, the 1964 earthquake, the Klondike gold rush, and Denali. 

Looking forward to another visit...

This was just a short trip to get a taste of Anchorage in winter.  They received a near record-breaking amount of snow so it was pretty.  It was also interesting to walk around neighborhoods with a wall of snow about 3-4 feet high on either side of the sidewalks.  A lot of the main attractions surrounding Anchorage are best visited in the summer months though.  While there's not a whole lot else I'd care to see in Anchorage (perhaps except the Anchorage Museum), I do want to visit the towns, parks, and glaciers surrounding it.  I'm hoping to take a week out this summer to do a combined Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks trip.  If anyone wants to join, let me know!