The Last Great Race

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‘A health to the man on the trail this night; may his grub hold out; may his dogs keep their legs; may his matches never miss fire.’ - To the Man on the Trail ~ Jack London
 
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Wildman said:
Yes I don't know that I've ever really seen a GREAT mushing movie.

Eight Below was okay

Eight Below (2006) - IMDb

I liked Iron Will

Iron Will (1994) - IMDb

And of course Snow Dogs was just a funny movie.

Snow Dogs (2002) - IMDb
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I’ll give Togo huge props for getting the commands and most of the gear correct, if not entirely period correct. Whoever was technical advisor did a good job. Still funny to see a modern x-back harness made to look like a period leather strap and buckle freight harness. Other than the suspension of disbelief in some parts and the need to Hollywood things up for suspense (ever read the Cruelest Miles? The whole epic story has enough true suspense and danger) it was far above any of the others.
 
mushdogs said:
I’ll give Togo huge props for getting the commands and most of the gear correct, if not entirely period correct. Whoever was technical advisor did a good job. Still funny to see a modern x-back harness made to look like a period leather strap and buckle freight harness. Other than the suspension of disbelief in some parts and the need to Hollywood things up for suspense (ever read the Cruelest Miles? The whole epic story has enough true suspense and danger) it was far above any of the others.
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Yes I've read the Cruelest Miles. And a ton of other books on Alaska & mushing. I can't remember the authors name right now but he had put out a bunch of How To books back in the 60's & 70's on mushing and running a trap line. As he got older he'd moved to WA and lived outside of Lynnwood. I got to meet him once. He was in his 70's I'd guess at that time as I was 15-16 so I'm not totally sure. But got to sit there for hours listening to his stories of being up there in the 40's-60's. It was amazing.
 
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Wildman said:
Yes I've read the Cruelest Miles. And a ton of other books on Alaska & mushing. I can't remember the authors name right now but he had put out a bunch of How To books back in the 60's & 70's on mushing and running a trap line. As he got older he'd moved to WA and lived outside of Lynnwood. I got to meet him once. He was in his 70's I'd guess at that time as I was 15-16 so I'm not totally sure. But got to sit there for hours listening to his stories of being up there in the 40's-60's. It was amazing.
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I’ll bet it was amazing.
One of my favorite books in my collection is A Dog-Puncher On the Yukon by Arthur Treadwell Walden.
 
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I just added both of those to my kindle, thanks for the heads up!
 
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I got to see the ending of the ceremonial start in Eagle River quite a few times and the restart in Wasilla/Willow Lake when I lived there. That was back in the ‘90s when I was stationed up there. It was so cool to see that! I still follow it today. Some of the same people are still competing and they were considered veterans of the mushing game back then!

The race starts this year on 6 March. They have changed the route a little due to the COVID. The ceremonial start in Anchorage has been cancelled as has the restart at Willow Lake. They will start at Deshka Landing and follow a new route. I’ll be following again this year!

On a related note, one year (‘95 maybe?) I went on a guided fishing charter out of Talketna for Silver Salmon The guide for that trip was the 32 year Iditarod veteran DeeDee Jonrowe. Awesome Lady!
 
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I miss going to watch the start of the race. It was always a fun time and being a volunteer gave me a chance to just be around the sport a little. I don't follow it every year but I do try and keep track most of the time.
 
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The Iditarod is hosting a free broadcast of the live start at Iditarod.com this Sunday.
In this photo by Jeff Schultz, Wade Marrs is on the trail along Pass Creek in the Alaska Range after leaving the Rainy Pass checkpoint on the way to Rohn during Iditarod 2016.
Schultz has been the official photographer of the Iditarod since 1980. Check out more of his race photos in his fine are gallery at https://prints.schultzphoto.com/iditarod-mushing
 
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