Teachers attending the Winter Educator’s Conference had the opportunity to visit the Van Zyle Kennel and Art Studio. During the visit teachers enjoyed conversation with Jon and Jona Van Zyle as well as their handsome Siberian Huskies.
Who’s My Daddy, a Siberian Husky from Jon & Jona Van Zyle’s Kennel is ready for a game of tennis. Jon is the “Official” Iditarod Artist.
It’s all about the dogs! These canine athletes have just completed the 2014 Junior Iditarod and are standing under the finish banner at Happy Trails while their musher/coach signs in and produces the required equipment for bag check.
Seven-year-old Piglet runs with the Klejka family from Bethel Alaska. Piglet, a winner of Junior Iditarod gold is a veteran of many Junior Iditarod races.
Kevin Harper left Yentna Station ten minutes behind Jimmy Lanier but passed Jimmy on the trail. Harper was became aware of a pair of dogs approaching him from behind. The pair of footloose dogs were connected by their tugs to a very short piece of gangline. Without the resistance of the sled, this pair was …
Joshua Klejka who placed 8th was extremely happy to have had the opportunity to run on such good trail. There’s way more ice than snow around his hometown of Bethel so while his dogs didn’t have enough training this year to be really competitive, musher and canines enjoyed the 124-mile run immensely. Piglet is a …
Junior Iditarod musher, Ashley Guernsey, crossed the finish line in 7th place. When she was just a little girl, Ashley watched Season of the Sled Dog a video created by Mary Shields. Shields, the first woman to finish Iditarod inspired Ashley to run dogs. As a special surprise, Ashley received a gift from Mary Shields …
When the first Junior musher, Conway Seavey left Yentna Station at 02:08 the night sky was cloudy. At 04:45 when Nicole Forto, the final musher out of the checkpoint departed, the clouds disappeared, the stars shown brilliantly and as northern lights danced into the sky, an orange quarter moon rose over the tree lined riverbank …
Touring schools in Alaska and telling them about the Last Great Race has kept me busy most of this week. I’ve been traveling with the 2014 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™, Jen Reiter. Each of the schools in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District has a motto chosen to inspire and direct students. They are really …
I’m not talking about my best canine friend, SPOT, I’m talking about the GPS tracking device that Junior Iditarod and Iditarod mushers will be using while on the trail. In the past, the tracker that was attached to the Iditarod sled was the size and weight of a brick. It sent signals up to satellites …
