Episode 21 finds the team 10 miles after leaving the White Mountain checkpoint in a blizzard. It is during the wee hours of the morning, so its still dark. I don’t often take videos in the dark, but I thought I might capture the variety of race conditions with this video. … Read More
SP Kennel’s primary sponsor, Matson, was the presenting sponsor for the Anchorage Heart Walk on Saturday, September 21. Matson proudly supports American Heart Association’s fight for a world of longer and healthier lives through heart health. Since heart health is personally important to both Aliy and Allen, they took the … Read More
In Episode 20 we are just about to arrive in the village of Golovin. I could see a lot of people at the edge of town, milling around. As we got closer, my eyes could focus and sure enough, there was a large crowd. I wish that I would have … Read More
In Episode 19 we are between Elim and White Mountain on the Western coast. Scattered along the trails in rural Alaska are Shelter Cabins. I guess these are similar to Rest Areas on the highways and turnpikes in the Lower 48; except there no rest rooms, Wendy’s burger joints or iPhone … Read More
In Episode 17 we are nearing the top of one of the many mountains between Elim and White Mountain. The dogs and I put a lot of effort into climbing mountains. The trail segment has some of the toughest climbs on the Iditarod. I often double ski pole, but by … Read More
Greg Heister, from Iditarod Insider, came to Two Rivers a couple weeks ago to check in with Aliy, Allen and the dogs. It was a busy day for the kennel, as it often is. Allen was running multiple errands in Fairbanks. Aliy was in between trips to town. She was … Read More
This September SP Kennel is doing things a little different. And boy, are we all HAPPY about it. We have purposely not started training dogs in harness yet. For many years, our first hook up day was September 1st. Not this year! Our focus this month is on enjoying the last … Read More
Here is a map of a portion of western Alaska. You can see the village of Kaltag, which is still inland, and the layout of the first three Iditarod Checkpoints along the ocean: Unalakleet, Shaktoolik and Koyuk. The route from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik is predominantly over land, heading due north along … Read More
Many thanks to all our Dog Fan Club fans for the 2018 – 2019 season. We sincerely appreciate your support and love that you feel the same about our canine best friends as we do! We have kept our Fan Club support program open all summer so that we could … Read More
Both of these episodes are taken along the old Portage Trail which runs from the last Athabascan Indian village inland, Kaltag, to the first Inupiat Eskimo village along the Western Coast, Unalakleet. Over this 85 mile leg there is a huge metamorphosis in geography, vegetation, culture, animals and weather. It really … Read More
