MAR 7, 14 (2/4) .. THE 2014 IDITAROD

Continuing now with Part III.  Here are photographs taken at or very close to the starting area of the race.

Do you all see our ‘land mark’ yellow building shown at the start of Part I?

“Ah Captain! How could we miss it?!”  .. “Captain! Part I feels like some far distant past-event!”

“This yellow building below Captain?!”

Just in case you have forgotten that earlier (Friday) the day before the start of the race .. there was NO SNOW to be seen .. I have re-posted a NO SNOW photo.  See our ‘land mark’ yellow building and NO SNOW?

It is absolutely amazing to me to see how the City of Anchorage work crews manage to make so much snow appear for the start of the race.

Continuing ..There is a LOT of fussing and fiddling and adjusting the pull-lines and harnesses before a team is ready-to-go! You will see this in the below photos.

In the below photo .. if you look closely .. you will see that the black dog has gotten himself tangled up in his pull-line! Also notice that a dog-handler is un-tangling the lighter colored dog beside the black dog.

If you have never seen this ‘scene’ live .. you’ve no idea of how ACTIVE and loud the dogs are!

AHHHH .. finally they are ‘freed up’ and ready-to-go.  Don’t they look happy?

Below is a photo of (a yet-to-be unrolled and installed) roll of fencing that separates the crowd from the mushers and handlers and officials.  You can see this very visible fencing in many of the above photos.

I don’t know why this happens to me BUT happen-to-me it does! 

In many of these photos I am INSIDE of the fencing co-habitating with the mushers and officials (who are doing their very best to keep non-mushers such as myself out of the inside area!).

Perhaps I just ‘look-like-I-belong-inside’ since I have legally been inside many times in prior years as a volunteer and do know how-to-handle myself.  Also I think age helps.  At age 77 and very grey I do look like I know what I am doing .. which truly I do.

See .. in the below photos I am right in and amidst them.

This I MUST ADD.  For a fee .. for the expenditure of some ‘buckaroos’ (money) you can purchase an ‘Insider’s Pass’ that will let you inside .. BUT you must display such a pass prominently (they hang around the folks necks) so the policing officials know you do belong.  Obviously I had NO SUCH A PASS but maybe looked like I did!

The below sled and musher are about to begin their trip to Nome.  Note the tag-line is taut as the dogs are pulling hard to get-going!

These teams are pulling hard and heading for the actual start for their trip to Nome.

Just to refresh your memories .. here are two more photos that were taken immediately at the starting line .. at the top of the photos you can see the official ‘Start Sign’.

And? Below I am back-where-I-belonged walking with all of the others!

The time-has-come to see some photos of the mushers out-on-the-trail and IN ACTION.  Please scroll down (or click below on Previous) for the continuation of The 2014 Iditarod in Part IV below.  See you there!

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• MAR 7, 14 (3/4) .. THE 2014 IDITAROD →